Department for Transport

Electric Vehicles: Greater London

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the comprehensiveness of coverage of London of charging points for electric cars.

Mr Robert Goodwill: London was one of 8 Plugged in Places (PiP) areas which benefited from HMG funding. This supported the roll out of 1,500 public chargepoints in the ‎capital. One of the best urban charging networks in the world. However we are conscious that this is the beginning rather than the end. Transport for London (TfL) recently announced that IER (a subsidiary of Bolloré Group) will take over the running of the capital's chargepoint network. IER have announced plans to deliver an extra 4,500 chargepoints totalling 6,000 by 2018 as part of their £100m investment in a London-wide electric vehicle sharing scheme.

Families

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Prime Minister's speech of 15 August 2011 calling for a family test to be applied to all domestic policy, which policies of his Department have been so assessed to date.

Claire Perry: On 18 August 2014 the Prime Minister announced that the family test was being formalised as part of the impact assessment for all domestic policies. From October 2014, every new domestic policy will be examined for its impact on the family.

Cycling

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much (a) his Department and (b) local highways authorities have spent on consultants for cycling programmes, activities or projects in each year since 1997.

Mr Robert Goodwill: We are unable to disaggregate the amount spent specifically on cycling from spend on consultancy. Furthermore, between 2005 and 2011 Cycling England were responsible for investment in cycling, however they were not consultants. For local highway authorities we do not keep this information centrally.

Roads: Safety

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent representations he has received on the applicability of road safety regulations to metric mixers.

Claire Perry: The Department has received fourteen separate pieces of correspondence relating to metric mixers as at 24 September 2014.

East Anglia Railway Line

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the value is of the support provided by his Department to the Norwich in 90 campaign; and what proportion of such support has been spent on (a) secretarial support and (b) external consultants.

Claire Perry: The Department has not provided secretarial support to the Norwich in 90 campaign but has been providing technical support within the Department’s staff resources. The Department has funded external consultancy support to the value of £60,000.

Directly Operated Railways

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 5 September 2014, Official Report, column 402W, on directly operated railways, what the mobilisation costs incurred by directly operated railways were in each franchise competition since 6 May 2010.

Claire Perry: Directly Operated Railways (DOR) has incurred mobilisation costs in respect of two rail franchises since 6 May 2010. These are as follows: 2012/13 – InterCity West Coast - £1,020,0002013/14 – Greater Western - £787,000 Prior to 2010 DOR also incurred mobilisation costs of £5.6 million with respect to the failure of the InterCity East Coast franchise in 2009.

East Anglia Railway Line

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many level crossings there are on the London to Norwich rail route; what assessment has been made of the number of level crossings that could be closed to improve passenger journey times; and what assessment has been made of the cost of closing level crossings as part of the Norwich in 90 proposals.

Claire Perry: There are 89 level crossings of all types between London and Norwich. Network Rail are currently developing detailed proposals and costings to increase speeds on the route to reduce journey times and these proposals are likely to involve changes to some existing level crossings.

East Anglia Railway Line

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions his Department has held with freight operating companies on the transfer of freight services from the Great Eastern Main Line to the Nuneaton to Felixstowe line.

Claire Perry: The Department has not held direct discussions with the freight operating companies on this, as freight routeing is a matter for Network Rail, within the regulatory framework overseen by the Office of Rail Regulation. There are no current proposals to transfer all freight services from the Great Eastern Main Line to the Felixstowe to Nuneaton route; rather, the upgrading of the route from Felixstowe to Nuneaton is currently principally aimed at accommodating the anticipated growth in rail freight to and from the Port of Felixstowe.

Buses: Tyres

Steve Rotheram: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, which British and European tyre manufacturing experts have contributed to his Department's research into tyre ageing on buses and coaches since December 2013.

Steve Rotheram: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, which individuals have been commissioned to undertake research into tyre ageing on buses and coaches; and when he will publish the results of such research.

Claire Perry: The Department has consulted with representatives of the European Tyre and Rim Technical Organisation, Michelin, Bandvulc Tyres, the British Tyre Manufacturers’ Association and the Retread Manufacturers Association. Further research is being planned but has not yet been commissioned. The outcomes will be available next year.

A47

Stephen Barclay: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 4 September 2014, to Question 207751, on repairs and maintenance, how many problems were identified at Stage 1 of the feasibility work undertaken into the A47, presented at the study reference group meeting on 19 May 2014; and if he will publish the detailed work into the economic benefits, capacity and safety issues that led the Highways Agency to choose the current 10 schemes for feasibility work.

Mr John Hayes: Stage 1 of the A47/A12 corridor feasibility study identified 32 current and future challenges along the corridor. This was presented to the study reference group on 19th May 2014.The study is not yet completed and no conclusions have yet been reached on investment proposals along the corridor. Government has committed to report back at Autumn Statement 2014 on progress on each of the six strategic road network feasibility studies, which will inform the first Road Investment Strategy. The Department is intending to make the work of the feasibility studies available following the completion of the study process.

Roads

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will publish the (a) cost-benefit ratio and (b) Transport Analysis Guidance (WebTAG) appraisal summary table of all current Highways Agency schemes in the planning or scoping phase.

Mr John Hayes: For potential future transport investments, the Department follows its guidance on Transport Business Cases and the relevant appropriate sections of the Transport Analysis Guidance to consider the case for such investments. In the early scoping phase of work, the required strategic outline business case does not require the production of benefit cost ratios or appraisal summary tables and it is therefore not possible to publish such information.

Official Hospitality

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much his Department and its agencies spent on refreshments in each year since 2010.

Claire Perry: The table below shows the spend on refreshments by the Department for Transport and its agencies, Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency, Highways Agency, Maritime and Coastguard Agency, Vehicle Certification Agency, Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency.   Department for Transport and Agencies2010-1111 months from May£259,047.192011-1212 months£114,119.842012-1312 months£102,861.702013-1412 months£109,108.612014-155 months to-date£41,463.35  £626,600.69 By comparison, in the financial year 2009–10, the Department and its agencies spent £525,762.84.

Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency

Heidi Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the data protection implications of the new DVLA online vehicle check service.

Claire Perry: The vehicle enquiry service provides general information about vehicles and not individuals. The information included is therefore not covered by the Data Protection Act 1998. The service was recently enhanced to include the taxation class and MoT status of vehicles. This was intended to help organisations to continue to provide the appropriate parking concessions and exemptions from certain tolls to users of vehicles in the disabled tax class, following the abolition of the tax disc. The term "disabled" describes a vehicle’s tax class and does not refer to a living individual. Views have been expressed about the potential impact on the privacy of individuals who may be linked with vehicles licensed in the disabled tax class. The DVLA has removed all tax classes from the vehicle enquiry service while these matters are being considered in discussion with the Information Commissioner’s Office.

First Transpennine Express

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the figures for overcrowding are on the First Transpennine Express routes between (a) Manchester Airport and Sheffield, (b) Sheffield and Doncaster and (c) Scunthorpe and Doncaster.

Claire Perry: On a typical weekday in autumn 2013, there were 4% of passengers in excess of capacity (PiXC) on First TransPennine Express services at Sheffield during the morning peak and 8% in the evening peak. This includes the routes to Sheffield from both Manchester and from Doncaster. Further information about these statistics can be found in the publication Rail passenger numbers and crowding on weekdays in major cities in England and Wales: 2013, which has been placed in the Libraries of the House and is available online athttps://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/rail-passenger-numbers-and-crowding-on-weekdays-in-major-cities-in-england-and-wales-2013 These statistics are based on passenger counts carried out by train operators that the Department for Transport (DfT) holds on a commercially confidential basis, so more disaggregate data than that published cannot be released. DfT does not hold information on overcrowding between Scunthorpe and Doncaster.

Transport: North of England

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimates he has made of the cost of (a) adding a third lane on the A1(M) north from Scotch Corner to Edinburgh, (b) dualling of the A66 on all single carriage sections between Middlesborough and Carlisle, (c) dualling of the A1 north through Northumberland, (d) extending the metro to Washington, through Gateshead and Whickham to Consett, to Durham, (e) building a new bridge over the Wear at Sunderland, (f) building a Durham bypass, (g) building an Allerdene bridge over the A1(M) at Low Fell and (h) introducing integrated Oyster-style ticketing across the North East region and across buses, metro and trains.

Mr John Hayes: The Department has not completed recent cost estimates for the transport proposals referred to. However, in terms of the strategic road network, this Government has allocated funding for, and the Highways Agency has started construction on, upgrading the A1 between Leeming to Barton to motorway standard which will create a continuous motorway standard route from London to Newcastle (via M1/A1M). Construction has also recently started on the A1 Coal House to Metro Centre improvement scheme in Gateshead. In terms of future proposals for the strategic road network, the Department is currently undertaking specific feasibility studies to identify solutions to address notorious and long standing hot spots on our national road network, including studies on the A1 North of Newcastle and the A1 Newcastle/Gateshead Western bypass. The detailed scope of work for these studies were published in April this year and are available from the Government’s website at:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/strategic-road-network-the-scope-of-6-feasibility-studies The Government has committed to report progress on the studies at the time of the 2014 Autumn Statement.   In addition, as part of its investment planning process, the Highways Agency is developing route strategies for the entire strategic road network, including the A66. The route strategies will allow further consideration of the future investment proposals as part of the Department’s longer-term investment planning process.   In terms of the proposals for local transport improvements, responsibility for their development, including producing cost estimates, rests with the relevant local transport authority – in this instance, the North East Combined Authority.

Home Office

Police: St Helena

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 5 September 2014, Official Report, column 397W, on police: St Helena and the Answer of 1 September 2014 to the hon. Member for Birmingham, Yardley, Official Report, column 151W, on police: St Helena, how many deployments of UK police officers to St Helena there were in (a) 2010 and (b) 2013; and how many officers were involved in each deployment.

Mike Penning: The Home Office does not hold information on all official visits by UK Police Officers to Saint Helena. Under Section 26 of the Police Act (1996), during 2010, there were two authorisations for a UK police officer to be deployed to Saint Helena, of which only one went ahead. During 2013, a further two officers were deployed.

Radicalism

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, in which local authorities people have been referred to the Channel programme in each of the last five years.

James Brokenshire: Channel was implemented across England and Wales in April 2012. Arrangements are in place so that anyone can make a Channel referral. For data protection and national security reasons, we do not provide a breakdown of Channel referrals by local authority.

Licensing: Fees and Charges

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to introduce full cost recovery for (a) firearms and (b) alcohol licences.

Norman Baker: Firearms are regulated under the Firearms Act 1968. Fees under the 1968 Act were last set in 2001. We are working to improve the efficiency of the gun licensing process includingthe proposed piloting of an online system by the police in the autumn, with a viewto rolling out next year. I am clear that the present level of fees is unsustainable otherthan in the short term. Alcohol sales are regulated by the Licensing Act 2003. Fees under the Act areintended to recover the full costs of licensing authorities in discharging their licensing functions. Fee levels have not been adjusted since 2005. The Government consulted on proposals for locally-set fees underthe Act between 13 February and 10 April, and is considering the responses and the evidence provided by licensing authorities before deciding how to proceed.

Borders: Security

Stephen Barclay: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the (a) capital and (b) revenue costs are of operating a body scanning machine at a single point of entry over a 24-hour period.

Stephen Barclay: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Answer of 18 June 2013, Official Report, column 596W, on automatic number plate recognition, how many body-scanning machines UK Border Agency owns; and how many of these are operational.

James Brokenshire: Border Force has a total of 19 body scanners for the purposes of detecting drugs and other illegal contraband at the border; all of which are operational. The average cost of each unit is approximately £133,500 and running revenue cost is £6.50 per unit over a 24hr period.Border Force also has 5 Passive Millimetre Wave Imaging devices which scan vehicles for the presence of clandestines, all of which are operational. The average capital cost of each unit is approximately £800,000. The maintenance cost to the Home Office over a 24 hour period is approximately £83 per unit.The Department for Transport requires Security (Body) Scanners to be deployed at some UK airports, at their cost, as part of the outbound air passenger screening process.

National Police Air Service

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the financial sustainability of the National Police Air Service in the event that the Metropolitan Police Service does not join the scheme.

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the change in the number of flying hours above London that will take place if the Metropolitan Police Service joins the National Police Air Service.

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, who will take the lead role for air support in the result of a terrorist-related incident if the Metropolitan Police Service joins the National Police Air Service.

Mike Penning: In April 2012, the Home Office mandated that the National Police Air Service (NPAS) would be a national service which served all forces and communities. The financing of the (NPAS) and operational issues, such as flying hours provided to police forces, are matters for NPAS and its strategic board to consider, in working with chief constables and police and crime commissioners to provide air support to the police. In the event of a terrorism-related incident, NPAS would provide air support as required, under the operational control of the police force or forces concerned.

Entry Clearances: Business

Mr Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many business visitor visas were granted to (a) Indian and (b) Chinese nationals in each of the last three years for which figures are available.

James Brokenshire: The numbers of business visitor visas issued to (a) Indian and (b) Chinese nationals in each of the last three years for which figures are available are set out in the following table.Calendar Year (a) India(b) China2011 69,78669,4572012 67,22171,8632013 71,88168,972   Note: UK destination only. Visit-Business endorsement only. Please note that all the figures given are sourced from management information which is not quality assured under National Statistics protocols and is subject to change due to internal data quality checking. Figures provided from this source do not constitute part of National Statistics and should be treated as provisional.  The UK is open for business to the brightest and best migrants and continues to welcome top global talent. Recent improvements to our visa services have reduced red tape and increased flexibility for businesses.

Entry Clearances: Business

Mr Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many business visitor visas were granted in 2013.

James Brokenshire: 353,436 business visitor visas were issued in 2013. This includes all nationalities to UK destinations only. Please note that this is sourced from management information which is not quality assured under National Statistics protocols and is subject to change due to internal data quality checking.

Arrest Warrants

Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people were handed over to UK authorities from each EU state as a result of the successful execution of a European Arrest Warrant in (a) 2011, (b) 2012 and (c) 2013.

James Brokenshire: The following figures, provided by the National Crime Agency, set out the number of surrenders to the UK under a European Arrest Warrant for the calendar years 2011, 2012 and 2013, by each European Union Member State. European Arrest Warrant surrenders to the UK by EU Member State EU Member State201120122013TotalAustria0000Belgium25310Bulgaria1124CroatiaN/AN/A00Cyprus3216Czech Republic4116Denmark2013Estonia3014Finland0101France119828Germany39517Greece1034Hungary0011Ireland16212057Italy24612Latvia0112Lithuania6028Luxembourg0000Malta2013Netherlands32171362Poland39618Portugal23510Romania25310Slovakia0404Slovenia0000Spain344342119Sweden2002Total131135125391

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Middle East

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what information his Department holds on the number of (a) Israelis and (b) Israeli children who have been killed as a result of Israeli military action in the last 10 years.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office holds no information centrally on the number of Israelis or Israeli children killed by Israeli military action in the last 10 years.

North Korea

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the Government has requested the EU to implement targeted sanctions against people and organisations named in the UN Commission of Inquiry report on North Korea as being responsible for human rights violations in North Korea; and if he will discuss with his ministerial colleagues implementing sanctions in the event that the EU does not do so.

Mr Hugo Swire: We meet regularly with other EU member states to discuss how we can collectively press for substantial change in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). In June, I personally met representatives from the EU, France, United States, Japan and the Republic of Korea to discuss ways in which accountability toward the DPRK can be improved. An EU imposed targeted sanctions regime against individuals and organisations named in the UN Commission of Inquiry report has not been requested as it is not clear this will lead to improvements in the human rights situation. However, the UK will continue to work closely with the EU and other partners to ensure focus is maintained on improving the human rights situation in the DPRK. We intend to work for a strong, well supported resolution in the UN General Assembly’s Third Committee.

Females: Equality

Roberta Blackman-Woods: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what future plans he has to continue engaging with non-governmental organisations concerned with gender equality and women's rights over the next year.

Mr David Lidington: Discrimination and violence against women and girls remains one of the most widespread human rights abuses. Tackling this issue is a priority for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and central to our work to advance gender equality and empower women. We will continue to consult non-governmental organisations (NGOs) on our approach. I welcome their expert advice.FCO officials in London and across the diplomatic network regularly meet with a wide range of NGOs to discuss gender equality and women’s rights. This will continue. As will the regular exchanges with NGOs held at the FCO and in Geneva before sessions of the UN Human Rights Council. The UK Mission in New York consults regularly with international NGOs and in conjunction with Government Equalities Office, holds nightly briefings for UK NGOs attending the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) in March each year.The Forced Marriage Unit runs a quarterly partnership board, involving a range of NGOs; and Conflict Department work closely with Gender Action for Peace and Security – an organisation that represents a number of NGOs. In addition, within the UK, the FCO works closely with the Government Equalities Office (GEO) which carries out an extensive consultation exercise with NGOs in advance of Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) each year.

Kurds

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his French and German counterparts about assistance to the Kurdistan regional government.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: We continue to consult closely with other members of the coalition on how to defeat ISIL. The UK, France and Germany have all provided equipment to the Kurds.

Israel

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the security threat to Israel from Hamas.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: We have not undertaken a formal assessment of the security threat to Israel from Hamas.

Palestinians

Mr Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has made to the Israeli authorities on the entry to Gaza of construction materials.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: I raised the issue of Gaza with the Israeli Justice Minister, the Intelligence Minister and the Deputy Foreign Minister on 6 October during my visit to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories from 6-8 October. Our Ambassador to Tel Aviv has also raised this issue with senior officials in the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office and National Security Council on 7 and 8 Sept.Israeli restrictions on the movements of goods and people do tremendous damage to the economy and living standards of ordinary people in Gaza and only serve to strengthen, not weaken, Hamas.UK Ministers and senior officials have consistently urged Israel to further ease its restrictions on Gaza. An improved economy is not only essential to ease the suffering of the people, including the children, of Gaza, but firmly in Israel’s security interests.

Iraq and Syria

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will take steps to ensure all UN member states commit not to take military action in Iraq or Syria without either the consent of the governments of those countries or a supporting UNSC Resolution.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: A UNSC resolution or the consent of a government are not the only potential bases in international law for the use of force. Other legal bases would include: individual or collective self-defence; and, in certain exceptional circumstances, in order to avert an overwhelming humanitarian catastrophe. ISIL continue to pose a direct threat to Iraq. They operate across the borders of Syria and Iraq, in a situation where the Government of Syria is unable or unwilling to take effective action to counter the threat posed by ISIL. Iraq has requested help to defend itself. The US have been clear that in carrying out military actions in Syria they are acting on the basis of both collective and individual self-defence. If the UK were to undertake military strikes in Syria we would only do so on a sound legal basis and that would depend on the facts on the ground at the time, for example in line with the US led international efforts in collective self defence pursuant to the Iraqi request of 20 September. The Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron), has been clear that if the decision were made to take military action in Syria the government would return to the House of Commons. However, if there were a critical British interest at stake or there were the need to take urgent action to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe then it would be possible to order that and come straight to the House and explain afterwards.

Palestinians

Mr Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has made to the Israeli government on an end to the blockade of Gaza.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: I raised the issue of Gaza with the Israeli Justice Minister, the Intelligence Minister and the Deputy Foreign Minister on 6 October during my visit to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories from 6-8 October. Our Ambassador to Tel Aviv has also raised this issue with senior officials in the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office and National Security Council on 7 and 8 Sept.Israeli restrictions on the movements of goods and people do tremendous damage to the economy and living standards of ordinary people in Gaza and only serve to strengthen, not weaken, Hamas.UK Ministers and senior officials have consistently urged Israel to further ease its restrictions on Gaza. An improved economy is not only essential to ease the suffering of the people, including the children, of Gaza, but firmly in Israel’s security interests

Females: Equality

Roberta Blackman-Woods: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to monitor the effectiveness of the commitments given by his Department during the Girls Summit 2014.

Mr David Lidington: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) committed to work in advance of the Summit to: secure high level overseas attendance, ensure that foreign governments make commitments to end female genital mutilation (FGM) and child, early and forced marriage (CEFM), and lobby countries to sign the Girl Summit Charter. The FCO engaged over 70 of its diplomatic missions, working closely with the Department for International Development. This resulted in over 800 participants attending the Summit from 50 countries, including over 30 ministers; 36 countries signing the Summit Charter so far; and commitments to action from nearly 150 governments, organisations and individuals to date.  The FCO is committed to building on the success of the Summit and will continue to lobby more states to sign the Charter and to continue to make commitments to end FGM and CEFM.

Palestinians

Mr Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent steps the Government has taken to help to end the blockade of Gaza.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The UK is working closely with the US, European and regional partners on Gaza to support Egyptian efforts to secure a negotiated settlement that includes the opening up of legitimate movement and access in and out of Gaza. The United Nations Security Council has an important role to play in supporting Egyptian efforts. That is why the UK, France and Germany have worked closely on elements for a Security Council Resolution. Discussions continue in New York to take this work forward.

Middle East

Mr Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the role of international observers in monitoring ceasefire arrangements in Gaza and protecting the security of Palestinians and Israelis.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: We welcome the announcement on Tuesday 26 August of agreement by all parties to a ceasefire, and pay tribute to the Government of Egypt for their work to secure this important step.It is now vital that the parties engage in negotiations to reach a sustainable and durable agreement which tackles the underlying causes of the conflict. It is only this which will put a stop to the cycle of violence. We are clear that there should be international monitoring and verification to ensure implementation of a comprehensive agreement.The UK, France and Germany have worked closely on elements for a Security Council Resolution. Discussions continue in New York to take this work forward.

Israel

Mr Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations his Department has made to the government of Israel on implementation of the findings of the Turkel Commission.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: We continue regularly to ask Israel to build on its progress towards implementation of the second report of the Turkel Commission and fully adopt its recommendations. Most recently, an official from our Embassy in Tel Aviv raised this issue with the Israeli Military Advocate General on 9 September.

Middle East

Mr Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what contribution his Department made to the Egyptian-mediated negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians on achieving a sustainable ceasefire.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The Government has worked hard with our international partners to help bring about a sustainable ceasefire – and we warmly welcome the agreement reached in Cairo for a ceasefire. We pay tribute to the Government of Egypt for their work in securing this important step and we continue to monitor the situation closely.The ceasefire provides the space for reaching a comprehensive agreement that tackles the underlying causes of the conflict. We are urging the parties to now quickly resume negotiations to that end.The UK will do all it can in the UN to support efforts to create a ceasefire which is sustainable and durable. We are currently working on a UNSCR in New York to that end.

Palestinians

Mr Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what support the Government is giving to the efforts of the Palestinian National Unity Government to reconnect Gaza and the West Bank.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: We welcomed the announcement on the formation of a new interim technocratic government for the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Reuniting Gaza and the West Bank under a government committed to peace is a necessary condition for resolving the Israel-Palestinian conflict.The UK Government fully supports the Palestinian Authority’s efforts to regain control of Gaza and restore effective and accountable governance.

Burma

Ms Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he has met representatives of the Women's League of Burma to discuss rape and sexual violence in that country.

Mr Hugo Swire: The Women’s League of Burma (WLB) was one of several civil society and religious organisations invited by the Government to attend the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in June. I met representatives of many of these organisations at a roundtable during the Summit to hear their views and concerns first-hand, but unfortunately no WLB representatives were able to attend. They were, however, able to meet officials from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and attend much of the Global Summit. Officials in London and Rangoon remain in contact with the WLB, along with other non-governmental organisations working to address the issue of sexual violence in Burma.

West Africa

Mr Lee Scott: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he has taken to protect the health of UK diplomatic staff and their dependents in West African nations affected by the ebola outbreak; and what monitoring of their health is available to them on their return to the UK.

James Duddridge: We take the health and safety of our staff in the UK and overseas seriously. We are working with partners in all of the affected countries to maintain adequate health facilities and medical evacuation provision for staff. We keep this under constant review. In some cases we have removed dependents from Posts because of the impact of ebola on local health infrastructure. There are checks and information for all passengers leaving affected countries. Our staff understand the ebola symptoms and to contact a medical professional immediately if necessary.

Christianity

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to assist persecuted Christians around the world; and if he will make a statement.

Mr David Lidington: The promotion and protection of the right to freedom of religion or belief is one of the UK’s human rights priorities. We regularly raise individual cases and work to combat discriminatory legislation and practices through multilateral systems and targeted project work. In the last month Ministers have made public statements expressing grave concern about persecution of individuals on grounds of their religion or belief in Syria, Pakistan and Iraq.As an example, in the recent high profile case of Meriam Ibrahim who was forced to leave Sudan because she refused to renounce Christianity, My Rt Hon Friend the Prime Minister, My Rt Hon Friend Justine Greening, Secretary of State for International Development and the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, My Hon Friend, the Member for Rochford and Southend East (Mr Duddridge) The Minister for Africa, all publicly condemned her sentencing, and called on the Government of Sudan to respect the right to freedom of religion or belief and international human rights laws. However, Meriam Ibrahim's case is not an isolated occurrence. This is why we are calling on the Sudanese government to undertake a comprehensive review of its penal code to ensure its laws reflect both its own constitution and international human rights obligations and the values of the Sudanese people.We are active in our project work in a wide range of countries. In Iraq, we are currently funding a series of grassroots meetings, bringing together people from different faiths to combat sectarian violence. The work is being led by Canon Andrew White, who has played a key role in forming the High Council of Religious Leaders in Iraq. In Syria, we are funding the training of religious and community leaders from the Sunni, Alawite, Christian, Druze, Armenian and Kurdish communities in active citizenship and dialogue skills in order to help reduce community tensions. We continue to fund training for Syrian activists to document abuses to a criminal law standard with the aim that this documentation could be used in a future process of accountability.

Israel

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of compliance by Israel with the human rights provisions of the EU-Israel Agreement; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The EU actively on promotes respect for human rights in Israel. Where there are concerns, these are raised at all levels through regular diplomatic engagement, and public statements, including the conclusions of numerous Foreign Affairs Councils.The EU is currently working with Israel on preparations for a further meeting of the EU-Israel informal working group on human rights.

Forced Marriage: Repatriation

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the average cost is of repatriating a victim of forced marriage stranded outside the UK; and who is responsible for paying that cost.

James Duddridge: The UK is regarded as a world leader in its work to tackle forced marriage. The Prime Minister hosted the UK’s first Girl Summit in July 2014, to build on current efforts and rally a global movement to end early and forced marriage, and FGM in a generation. The UK Government made commitments to act domestically and internationally, including promises to improve the police response, increase support available to those affected, and strengthen community-led prevention. Our work to repatriate victims is a key element of our work to end forced marriage. Before paying for the repatriation of a victim of forced marriage back to the UK, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office takes every step to ensure there are no other means of obtaining funds from relatives or friends who may be willing to transfer money or purchase a ticket back to the UK. Only in exceptional circumstances and after other means of obtaining the funds have been exhausted will a discretionary loan be made available, which must be repaid at a later date. Where it has been demonstrated that all possible avenues of funding have been exhausted and there is a clear inability to enter into a loan agreement (normally due to a victim being underage or not having sufficient mental capacity to sign an agreement), the FCO can provide limited financial support. Since April 2013, the average cost of repatriation in these cases has been £744.00.

Forced Marriage: Repatriation

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many habitual British residents, British dual nationals and British nationals have been rescued by British consular staff from forced marriages abroad and repatriated to the UK since 2010.

James Duddridge: The Forced Marriage Unit leads on the UK Government’s forced marriage policy, outreach and casework, operating both in the UK, where support is provided to any individual, and overseas, where consular assistance is provided to British nationals, including dual nationals. From 2010 – 2013, the Forced Marriage Unit provided advice or assistance related to a possible forced marriage in 5990 cases. To provide more information on the nature of the assistance provided in all these cases, including those which have involved repatriation, would involve a disproportionate cost.

Papua

Ann Clwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department has taken to raise the arrest of two French journalists in West Papua for breach of immigration rules with the Indonesian authorities.

Mr Hugo Swire: The recent incident involving French nationals is being handled by the French authorities, with whom we are in regular contact. On 16 September, our British Acting Ambassador in Jakarta met the Director General of Human Rights of the Indonesian Ministry of Law and Human Rights and raised the specific case of the two journalists, and discussed our continued concern about limited access rights for journalists and international non-governmental organizations in Papua and West Papua province. If the French authorities request the UK to take additional action, we would give it our full and proper consideration.

Papua

Ann Clwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he or officials in his Department have had with the Indonesian authorities on securing greater access to Papua for journalists and non-governmental organisations.

Mr Hugo Swire: We continue to follow the situation in the Indonesian provinces of Papua and West Papua closely. We remain concerned about reports of violence and human rights abuses, and our Embassy officials regularly visit the provinces to meet government officials, civil society leaders, and human rights defenders. We actively raise concerns with the Indonesian authorities regarding freedom of expression and restrictions on access to the region by international non-governmental organisations, diplomats and foreign journalists; most recently, the British Acting Ambassador in Jakarta met the Director General of Human Rights of the Indonesian Ministry of Law and Human Rights on 16 September.

Burma

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make an assessment of whether the actions and policies of the government of Burma are consistent with the commitments that government made when it signed the declarations on ending sexual violence in conflict.

Mr Hugo Swire: We welcome the Burmese government’s endorsement of the Declaration of Commitment and attendance at the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict in June 2014. There have been some positive signs that the Burmese authorities are taking seriously the commitments contained in the Declaration. In his speech at the UN General Assembly in September 2014, Burmese Foreign Minister U Wunna Maung Lwin reaffirmed the Government of Burma’s “zero tolerance” policy towards the use of rape and sexual violence in the military. In September, a civilian court in Shan State heard a case involving the alleged rape of a minor by a Burmese soldier. While much more must be done to hold perpetrators of sexual violence to account, this was a step towards accountability for survivors of sexual violence. We continue to encourage the Burmese government to take concrete action, including by strengthening legislation and improving access to justice for survivors. I urged the Burmese government swiftly to create a credible action plan to tackle sexual violence when I met Burmese Deputy Foreign Minister U Thant Kyaw on 13 June. The UK also funds projects to provide women with basic legal skills so they can advise survivors of sexual violence, and workshops to help community leaders and local government staff prevent sexual violence in their communities.

UN Resolutions: Females

Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to ensure women from caste communities are taken into account in the Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative and the UN Security Council Resolution 1325 National Action Plan.

James Duddridge: The Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative (PSVI) is focused on ending impunity for crimes of sexual violence committed in conflict and the provision of greater support to the survivors of these crimes. Where caste based sexual violence and so-called punishment rape are used in conflict they fall within the overarching objectives of the Initiative.The UK’s National Action Plan (NAP) on implementing UN Security Council Resolution 1325 reaffirms and strengthens the Government’s ambition to pursue visible change for women and girls affected by conflict. The 2014-2017 NAP promotes the participation of women, from all backgrounds, in decision-making processes related to the prevention, management and resolution of conflicts.PSVI and the NAP are complemented by wider government activity on tackling violence against women and girls, underpinned by the cross-government action plan, ‘A Call to End Violence against Women and Girls’, which sets out the Government’s programme of domestic and international work in this area. This includes working though our network of embassies overseas and with non-governmental organisations to address the full range of violations of women’s rights, including sexual and other forms of violence committed against them

Conflict Resolution: Females

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how his Department implemented at the Newport NATO Summit its responsibility under the UK National Action Plan on UNSCR 1325 to ensure that women are fully and meaningfully represented at any international peacebuilding event or summit hosted by the UK.

Mr David Lidington: NATO invited participants to the UK hosted NATO Summit following their own strict protocol arrangements for delegation composition and size.As host, the UK was able to influence directly the events around the NATO programme. As confirmation of our commitment to the Women, Peace and Security agenda, my Rt. Hon. Friend the Prime Minister’s Special Representative for Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict, my Rt. Hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), hosted the first meeting of its kind at a NATO Summit with the NATO Secretary General’s Special Representative on Women, Peace and Security and the Foreign Ministers of Croatia and Denmark. The meeting launched NATO’s new Policy and Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security and announced the permanency of the Special Representative’s position who will lead NATO’s efforts to ensure that women’s participation in conflict resolution is seen and taken forward as an integral part of the peace and security agenda. The meeting also discussed how this work contributes to preventing conflict-related sexual and gender-based violence.Furthermore, we enabled the Non-Government Organisation, the Atlantic Council to hold a ‘Future Leaders’ event in the margins of the NATO Summit. That was an opportunity for young professionals from all NATO member states and beyond to discuss implementation of UN Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325. The Deputy Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Sheffield, Hallam (Mr Clegg), was the lead UK speaker at the Future Leaders’ event. He took the opportunity to underline the importance of the UK’s National Action Plan for implementation of UNSCR 1325. The NATO Secretary General’s Special Representative on Women Peace and Security also spoke at the Future Leaders event.We ensured the Summit Communiqué highlighted the importance of ensuring women's full and active participation in the prevention, management, and resolution of conflicts, as well as in post-conflict efforts and cooperation.

Northern Ireland Office

Special EU Programmes Body

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what assessment she has made of how the Special EU Programmes Body is meeting its UNSCR 1325 and CEDAW obligations.

Mrs Theresa Villiers: Applying the provisions of United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325 in respect of Northern Ireland is not appropriate as the situation has never been considered to be an armed conflict as defined in international law.However, the Government considers some aspects of UNSCR 1325 relevant to Northern Ireland, including continuing to support the increase in the representation of women in Northern Ireland in public and political life in line with Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) obligations.

Special EU Programmes Body

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what assessment she has made of the performance of the Special EU Programmes Body in administering the PEACE 111 Programme.

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, if she will assess how the Special EU Programmes Body has assisted in the promotion of women's involvement in PEACE 111 funding projects.

Mrs Theresa Villiers: Peace III is a unique and important programme that plays a valuable role in underpinning support for the devolution settlement in Northern Ireland. Responsibility for the Special EU Programmes Body is a devolved matter and the responsibility of Northern Ireland Executive Ministers.

Attorney General

Slavery

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Attorney General, on how many occasions in each region the Crown Prosecution Service has issued a charging authority denied decision against a police request to charge under section 4 of the Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants, etc) Act 2004 since 2004.

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Attorney General, on how many occasions the Crown Prosecution Service London region has issued a charging authority denied decision against a police request to charge under section 4 of the Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants, etc) Act 2004 where the victim was under 18 years of age in the last five years.

Mr Robert Buckland: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) maintains no central record of the offences, category of offences or a breakdown of the age of victims, on cases referred to the CPS for a charging decision. This information could only be obtained by examining all of the files sent to the CPS for charging advice, which would incur disproportionate cost.

Slavery

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Attorney General, on how many occasions in each region the Crown Prosecution Service has issued a charging authority denied decision against a police request to charge under sections 57, 58 and 59 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 in the last five years.

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Attorney General, on how many occasions in each region the Crown Prosecution Service has issued a charging authority denied decision against a police request to charge under sections 57, 58 and 59 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 where the victim was under 18 years in the last five years.

Mr Robert Buckland: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) maintains no central record of the offences, category of offences, or a breakdown of the age of victims, on cases referred to the CPS for a charging decision. This information could only be obtained by examining all of the files sent to the CPS for charging advice, which would incur disproportionate cost.

Homicide

Philip Davies: To ask the Attorney General, pursuant to the Answer of 1 September 2014, Official Report, column 32W, on Crown Courts, what the reasons were for the (a) Crown Prosecution Service offering no evidence and (b) judge ordering acquittals in each of the cases in the homicide category.

Mr Robert Buckland: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) case outcome records include an allocation of a reason for cases not resulting in a conviction, including the numbers where the judge ordered an acquittal. Judge ordered acquittals comprise cases discontinued, where no evidence was offered, the indictment was stayed or all charges were left to lie on file.   Further to the Answer provided on 1 September 2014, published in Hansard, Official Report, column 32W, on Crown Courts, the number of defendants, by reason, in the ‘Homicide’ category with an outcome of ‘Offer no Evidence’ or ‘Judge Ordered Acquittal’, during 2013-14 is shown in the attached table. The data represent case outcomes recorded by the 13 regional Areas of the Crown Prosecution Service

Homicide

Philip Davies: To ask the Attorney General, pursuant to the Answer of 16 July 2014, Official Report, column 678W, on Crown Courts, how many defendants included in the figures for each of the years from 2008 to 2013 were charged with homicide.

Mr Robert Buckland: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) maintains a central record of prosecution outcomes with reference to 12 Principal Offence Categories which indicate the most serious offence a defendant is charged with at finalisation, in the CPS Case Management Information System.   The Principal Offence Category comprises a range of individual offences. These cannot be disaggregated to report prosecution outcomes by a specific offence.   Further to the Answer provided on 16 July 2014, published in Hansard, Official Report, column 678W, on Crown Courts, the number of defendants allocated a Principal Offence Category of ‘Homicide’ in each of the last six years, is shown in the attached table. 



Table: Homicide  - PQ 208790
(Word Document, 14.79 KB)

Families

Lucy Powell: To ask the Attorney General, with reference to the Prime Minister's speech of 15 August 2011 calling for a family test to be applied to all domestic policy, which policies of the Law Officers' Departments have been so assessed to date.

Mr Robert Buckland: On 18 August 2014 the Prime Minister announced that the family test was being formalised as part of the impact assessment for all domestic policies. From October 2014, every new domestic policy will be examined for its impact on the family.

Offences against Children

Diana Johnson: To ask the Attorney General, how many referrals were made to the Crown Prosecution Service by the police regarding child sexual offences in each of the last five years; and in how many such cases there were subsequent (a) prosecutions and (b) convictions.

Mr Robert Buckland: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) does not collect specific data on suspects referred to the CPS for a charging decision where child sexual abuse is alleged. However, data is available for the number of defendants whose prosecution was completed, where the case has been flagged as child abuse, and where the principal offence at finalisation is categorised as a sexual offence.   The CPS definition of child abuse covers any case where the victim was under 18 years of age at the time of the offence and includes allegations of crimes perpetrated by both adults and under 18s.   During each of the last five years the number of defendants prosecuted, in cases flagged as child abuse and whose principal offence was identified as a sexual offence, is as follows:ConvictionsUnsuccessfulTOTAL Volume%Volume%2009-20103,13375.7%1,00424.3%4,1372010-20113,55174.1%1,24325.9%4,7942011-20123,53075.8%1,12524.2%4,6552012-20133,07075.8%98124.2%4,0512013-20143,34476.5%1,02723.5%4,371Data Source: CPS Case Management Information System  It is not possible to disaggregate figures to show separately the volume and outcome of proceedings for individual offences within the Sexual Offences Category. A single defendant may be charged with more than one offence.

Travellers: Offences against Children

Tim Loughton: To ask the Attorney General, how many cases of child sexual exploitation have been prosecuted in each of the last five years, involving members of the Traveller, Gypsy and Roma communities.

Mr Robert Buckland: The information requested is not collected centrally and could only be obtained at a disproportionate cost.

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

Regional Growth Fund

Mr Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the total value is of all bids made in each region to each round of the Regional Growth Fund including the Exceptional Regional Growth Fund; how much has been committed to winning bidders in each such region in each such round; and how much such funding has been drawn down.

Mr Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the value is of funds not yet drawn down by winning bidders in each round of the Regional Growth Fund including the Exceptional Regional Growth Fund in each region.

Greg Clark: The tables below provide a breakdown of the value of Regional Growth Fund (RGF) by region and round for RGF applications; the committed allocation of RGF to projects and programmes following due diligence. This data excludes those projects and programmes that have withdrawn. The third table sets out the amount drawn down by operational RGF awards to date and the financial years in which the remaining RGF and eRGF is committed through to 31st March 2017. The data is correct as at 2nd October 2014. Projects and programmes in Rounds 1 to 4 have until 31 March 2015 to draw down their funding and projects and programmes in Round 5 will be able to draw down funding until 31 March 2017. The Department agrees a draw down profile with each organisation when they sign their grant offer letter that matches the beneficiary’s own investment schedules and job commitments. The subsequent rate of draw down is then subject to the beneficiaries meeting the conditions. RGF Applications (£ million)  Round 1Round 2Round 3Round 4Round 5ExceptionalTotalEast Midlands23152912416356 1,103East of England115131615043 400London7411726324 253North East34333535321598341,378North West5195354143228191,880South East1851541451912422721South West1442323222195715989West Midlands56928241917670161,532Yorkshire and The Humber32743434524026 1,372Nationwide215315565282241 1,618TOTAL2,7223,0642,7741,8907009611,246   RGF Committed  Round 1Round 2Round 3Round 4Round 5ExceptionalGrand TotalEast Midlands2642735200148East of England143525155095Nationwide17595176501070602North East3461111305521313North West2018210586205418South East0605425611155South West4718213225197West Midlands8995151553017437Yorkshire and The Humber47789340270285Grand Total385742834349291582651   RGF Drawn Down by year (£ million) Financial Year2011/122012/132013/142014/152015/162016/17TotalActual paid – year to date465161551252*  1,428Planned for whole financial year   11651671332,642   The difference between the totals in tables 2 and 3 arises because RGF applicants have not always claimed the full grant available to them.   *This is the actual amount paid to beneficiaries as of 2nd October 2014.

London School of Science and Technology

Sir Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether any official in his Department amended, or caused to be amended, the report of the Internal Audit Investigation Team which visited the London School of Science and Technology between 30 June and 2 July 2014; who made such amendments; and what amendments were so made.

Greg Clark: The text of the published report is exclusively the responsibility of the investigating office.

Education: Qualifications

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will bring forward proposals to prioritise funding for second qualifications for those with the lowest levels of work experience and skills.

Nick Boles: The recent consultation Further Education – Future Development of Loans included discussion of this question; both whether the scope of loans should be expanded to cover 19 to 23 year olds and whether loans should be made available for all level 2 qualifications where learners are not entitled to full grant funding. The government response to this consultation is due late autumn.Full funding will continue to focus on English and maths provision for all adults who need it, on young adults, and the unemployed where skills training will help them to enter and progress in work. Where young adults are taking a second qualification, or are aged 24 or over, there is an expectation that they or their employer share some of the costs of that learning.

Disabled Students' Allowances

Jim Fitzpatrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, when his Department will publish an assessment of the effect on disabled people of the proposed changes to disabled students' allowances.

Greg Clark: The analysis is currently being updated in light of information and evidence provided by stakeholders and will be published alongside the regulations in the autumn.

Disabled Students' Allowances

Jim Fitzpatrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether his Department will carry out a public consultation on proposed changes to disabled students' allowances.

Greg Clark: Ministers and officials have been engaged in extensive discussions with stakeholders, students and their representatives and disability organisations since April this year. The views and evidence provided have informed proposals and the on-going Equality Analysis.

Disabled Students' Allowances

Mr David Blunkett: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, when he plans to publish draft regulations for the proposed changes to disabled students allowance; and for how long a consultation on such changes will run.

Greg Clark: We expect to publish the draft regulations. Discussions with stakeholders, students and their representatives were held over the summer.

Minimum Wage

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, which sectors of the economy he estimates to have the lowest compliance with national minimum wage legislation.

Jo Swinson: The main estimate of non-compliance used is from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE)[1]. The table below shows the proportion of jobs held by those aged 22 and over, paid below the full adult national minimum wage (NMW) (at the time of the ASHE survey) by sector. It is reproduced from the latest Low Pay Commission report[2].This is a proxy measure for non-compliance as these figures include people who for legitimate reasons are paid less than the adult NMW for example because they are on the apprentice NMW rate or are living in accommodation provided by their employer. The ASHE survey is based on a sample of employee jobs drawn from HMRC’s Pay-As-You-Earn income tax records and consequently it does not include all workers who earn below the Lower Earnings Limit. These two factors tend to offset each other but we do not know definitively how large the combined effect is. However, we believe that it is small. Proportion of jobs held by those aged 22 and over, paid below the national minimum wage by sector, UK, 2012-13 SectorsPaid below 2013 April NMW rate (£6.19)Hairdressing3.5Childcare2.8Hospitality2.5Cleaning2.4Leisure, travel & sport1.4Retail1.3Transport1.3Agriculture1.2Storage0.9Social care0.8Textiles & clothing0.8Office work0.8Employment agencies0.7Food processing0.6Non-food Processing0.4Whole economy0.8[1] ASHE is a survey of employees completed by employers which we can use to look at workers earning at or below the NMW rate.[2]https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/288841/The_National_Minimum_Wage_LPC_Report_2014.pdf

Minimum Wage

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what proportion of those estimated not to be in receipt of the national minimum wage call the the Pay and Rights Helpline.

Jo Swinson: Estimates from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings for April 2013 show that there were around 279,000 jobs paid below the national minimum wage (NMW) held by people aged 16 and over (which constitutes 1.1% of all employee jobs in the UK labour market). The number of complaints about the NMW to the Pay and Work Rights Helpline (PWRH) in 2013/14 was 3747 (including some calls up to May 2014). We do not know what number of complaints to the PWRH come from workers who are not paid the NMW. There are a number of other callers who also ring the helpline to obtain advice and are able to have their issue resolved at this stage without needing to make a formal complaint.   During 2013/14, HMRC conducted 1,455 investigations (39% of the number of calls to the PWRH). From the investigations, 47 per cent of the cases were found to be non-compliant, which covers 22,610 workers.

Business: Loans

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps his Department has taken to implement the Tomlinson report.

Jo Swinson: Mr Tomlinson’s report called for an independent investigation of allegations about bank treatment of businesses in financial difficulty. This Department therefore passed the report to the financial services regulators including the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Serious Fraud Office. The FCA has subsequently appointed Promontory Financial Group and Mazars to conduct an independent skilled persons report under section 166 of the Financial Services and Markets Act (FSMA) 2000. The first stage of the review is considering Royal Bank of Scotland’s treatment of a sample of customers referred to its Global Restructuring Group. If the review reveals that poor practices are widespread and systematic, a second stage will identify the root causes and make recommendations to address the shortcomings. In addition, the FCA has sought confirmation from other relevant banks that they are satisfied that they do not engage in any of the poor practices alleged in the report. The FCA expects that the skilled person will report outcomes from the review in early 2015.

Telephone Services

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps his Department is taking to publicise the Pay and Rights Helpline.

Jo Swinson: The telephone number for the Pay and Work Rights Helpline (0800 917 2368) is publicised on the Gov.UK website, the Government Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/nmwage), and by stakeholders. The Minister has conducted media interviews to raise awareness of this issue. Furthermore, the Government is currently running a marketing campaign running from 8 September to the end of December 2014 in which the Pay and Work Rights telephone number is being publicised to employers and workers through the media and stakeholder communications. I also take every opportunity I can to publicise the number in media interviews.

Individual Voluntary Arrangements

Andrew Bingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the integrity of the marketing of IVA products; and what steps his Department is taking to regulate that practice.

Jo Swinson: BIS officials regularly discuss the operation of Individual Voluntary Arrangements with creditors, advice bodies and others with an interest in the process and a Protocol is in place to help raise standards in this area. Where an insolvency practitioner appears to be connected to any instance of inappropriate marketing, this could be a breach of the Code of Ethics for insolvency practitioners and is referred to the appropriate authorising body. The Insolvency Service also considers whether if companies are giving misleading or inaccurate information, action to wind them up in the public interest would be appropriate. In 2013, eight companies were wound up in the public interest because of concerns about misleading marketing. Regulation of advertising rests with the Advertising Standards Authority.

Portsmouth Port

Mr Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, when he last met (a) officials and (b) trades union representatives from Portsmouth International Port.

Matthew Hancock: Details of Ministers’ meetings with external organisations are published quarterly on the Gov.uk website: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications?departments%5B%5D=department-for-business-innovation-skills&publication_type=transparency-data Information for January – June 2014 is due to be published soon.

Home Care Services

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to tackle non-payment of the national minimum wage in the home care sector; and what assessment he has made of the accuracy of the estimate of the numbers not in receipt of the national minimum wage in paragraph 2.20 of the National Audit Office report, Adult social care in England: overview, HC 1102.

Jo Swinson: The Government is committed to increasing compliance with minimum wage legislation and the effective enforcement of it. Everyone who is entitled to the minimum wage should receive it. The Government has collaborated with care sector representative bodies to improve understanding of compliance risks and design controls within payroll systems that prevent workers being underpaid the minimum wage, in order to improve compliance. Guidance on Gov.uk has been updated to make it as clear as possible that travel time and rest breaks between assignments must be paid at least the national minimum wage (NMW). In addition, the Government will continue to work with the sector to ensure that understanding improves. This will include the Department of Health’s statutory guidance as part of the overall guidance on market shaping and commissioning the final version of which will be published in Autumn 2014. We have considered the National Audit Office report and note that their estimates come from a self-reported survey of care workers. Examination of surveys of individuals (such as the Labour Force Survey) find that some people tend to report longer working hours and a lower hourly rate compared to those reported by employers who pay the minimum wage. The current best estimate of non-compliance is derived from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE)[1]. The Low Pay Commission[2] published the proportion of jobs held by those aged 22 and over, paid below the NMW by sector. Figures show that non-compliance is relatively low in social care (0.8%) compared with other sectors. This is generally in line with non-compliance in the whole economy.  This estimate, as well as all estimates of non-compliance, has some limitations. However, there are no reasons to suppose that these limitations affect the social care sector more or less than the economy as a whole. [1] ASHE is a survey of employees completed by employers which we can use to look at workers earning at or below the NMW rate.[2]https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/288841/The_National_Minimum_Wage_LPC_Report_2014.pdf

Jo Swinson: The Government is committed to increasing compliance with minimum wage legislation and the effective enforcement of it. Everyone who is entitled to the minimum wage should receive it. The Government has collaborated with care sector representative bodies to improve understanding of compliance risks and design controls within payroll systems that prevent workers being underpaid the minimum wage, in order to improve compliance. Guidance on Gov.uk has been updated to make it as clear as possible that travel time and rest breaks between assignments must be paid at least the national minimum wage (NMW). In addition, the Government will continue to work with the sector to ensure that understanding improves. This will include the Department of Health’s statutory guidance as part of the overall guidance on market shaping and commissioning the final version of which will be published in Autumn 2014. We have considered the National Audit Office report and note that their estimates come from a self-reported survey of care workers. Examination of surveys of individuals (such as the Labour Force Survey) find that some people tend to report longer working hours and a lower hourly rate compared to those reported by employers who pay the minimum wage. The current best estimate of non-compliance is derived from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE)[1]. The Low Pay Commission[2] published the proportion of jobs held by those aged 22 and over, paid below the NMW by sector. Figures show that non-compliance is relatively low in social care (0.8%) compared with other sectors. This is generally in line with non-compliance in the whole economy.  This estimate, as well as all estimates of non-compliance, has some limitations. However, there are no reasons to suppose that these limitations affect the social care sector more or less than the economy as a whole. [1] ASHE is a survey of employees completed by employers which we can use to look at workers earning at or below the NMW rate.[2]https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/288841/The_National_Minimum_Wage_LPC_Report_2014.pdf

Home Care Services

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate his Department has made of (a) the profitability of the home care sector of the economy and (b) the proportion of home care providers which do not pay their employees the national minimum wage.

Jo Swinson: The Department of Health has discussions with homecare providers and the trade bodies that represent them, but they do not measure the profitability of the sector as a whole. Between the periods of 1st April 2011 and 31st March 2013, HMRC made targeted enquiries into 224 employers in the social care sector of which 206 have been completed. HMRC found non-compliance in 104 (50%) of these enquiries identifying for 6,367 workers.

Minimum Wage

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what representations he has received on national minimum wage and travel time; and if he will take steps to publicise guidance on travel time and the national minimum wage.

Jo Swinson: The Government is clear that travel time and rest breaks between assignments should be paid at least the appropriate National Minimum Wage rate. Despite this the Government has received information from a number of sources that there are concerns about the relationship between the National Minimum Wage (NMW) and travel time. In response to these concerns the Government has taken a number of steps to publicise and inform employers and workers of the NMW rules around travel time:-   the Department of Health have developed statutory guidance, in conjunction with a range of stakeholders, which refers to employment law and to HMRC guidance on payment of travel time, to help Local Authorities assure themselves that the care companies they contract with comply with NMW regulations.The Government has collaborated with care sector representative bodies to improve understanding of compliance risks and design controls within payroll systems that prevent workers being underpaid the minimum wage, in order to improve compliance.Guidance on Gov.uk has been updated to make it as clear as possible that travel time and rest breaks between assignments must be paid at least the NMW.   In addition, the Government will continue to work with the sector to ensure that understanding improves. This will include the Department of Health’s statutory guidance as part of the overall guidance on market shaping and commissioning, the final version of which will be published in Autumn 2014.

Insolvency

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what recent representations he has received on the independence and impartiality of the Institute of Chartered Accountants as regulator of insolvencies.

Jo Swinson: I have received no such recent representations.

Agriculture: Research

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will make it his policy to establish an agricultural technology catapult centre.

Greg Clark: This Department is investing £90 million to establish a small number of Centres for Agricultural Innovation. These Centres have similar overarching objectives to Catapult Centres and will drive increased translation of research and levels of innovation in agriculture and its supply chains, whilst both improving UK competitiveness and leadership in the Agri-Tech sector, and encouraging greater inward investment. Innovate UK is responsible for the establishment of new Catapult Centres, and is guided by specific criteria when considering new sectors and challenges. Whilst the current funding arrangements mean we cannot establish these existing Centres as a Catapult Centre, we will continue to explore the potential future Centres for Agricultural Innovation.

Department for International Development

Palestinians

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if she will make representations to her counterpart in the Israeli government to allow building materials to enter Gaza for the rebuilding of homes; and if she will make funding available towards the rebuilding of homes in Gaza.

Mr Desmond Swayne: We welcome the mechanism agreed by Israel, the Palestinian Authority and the UN to facilitate the import of construction materials. This is an important first step. Reconstruction will require a durable ceasefire, an agreed approach on security, predictable and sustained access for people and goods into and out of Gaza, and good governance arrangements. Only then will donors have the assurances they need to be able to support the reconstruction effort.

Palestinians

Mr Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what the increase in UK aid to Gaza (a) directly and (b) through contributions to UK non-governmental organisations and to international organisations has been since the start of Operation Protective Edge.

Mr Desmond Swayne: The UK is one of the biggest donors to the Gaza crisis, providing more than £17 million of emergency assistance. All of our support is being channelled through UN agencies, international organisations and UK non-governmental organisations.

Palestinians

Mr Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what representations she has made to the Israeli government on reparations for the damage caused by Operation Protective Edge to UN and civilian facilities in Gaza.

Mr Desmond Swayne: DFID, along with key partner agencies like UNRWA, is still assessing the level of damage to facilities in Gaza. The current priority is to ensure there is progress in the talks in Cairo.

Palestinians

Mr Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what projects funded by her Department in Gaza have been (a) damaged and (b) destroyed as a result of Israeli military action during Operation Protective Edge.

Mr Desmond Swayne: Initial reports from the UN Relief and Works Agency indicate that four schools built using DFID funding sustained damage during the conflict. The office of one of our implementing partners was also damaged. Assessments are continuing to establish the extent and the exact cause of the damage.

Palestinians

Mr Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what contribution her Department will offer at the donors' conference on the reconstruction of Gaza.

Mr Desmond Swayne: The UK pledged to contribute £20 million. We are clear, however, that reconstruction in Gaza will require a durable ceasefire, an agreed approach on security, predictable and sustained access for people and goods in and out of Gaza, and good governance arrangements.

Palestinians

Mr Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment she has made of the importance to a sustainable economy in Gaza of the re-opening of (a) Gaza airport and (b) the sea-port.

Mr Desmond Swayne: An airport or seaport could help to facilitate trade but the extent of their importance would depend on the lifting of restrictions on exports and transfers to Gaza’s natural markets of Israel and the West Bank. We have consistently called on the Government of Israel to improve movement and access into and out of Gaza, and will continue to do so.

Overseas Aid

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much her Department has spent on projects solely for the benefit of (a) males and (b) females in each of the last five years.

Lynne Featherstone: The particular information requested is not collected centrally and is not available without incurring disproportionate costs. The UK Government is committed to increasing focus on girls and women across all our investments to ‘stop poverty before it starts’ by creating environments that unlock their voices, choices and control, and that empowers them economically.   Since May 2014, under the International Development (Gender Equality) Act 2014, DFID is required to give regard to the contribution its assistance is likely to make to reducing gender inequality, or to gender-related differences in needs, before assistance is provided.

Developing Countries: Housing

Sir Tony Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what proportion of her Department’s funding is spent on providing adequate housing; and how much such funding is available to be spent in Sierra Leone.

Lynne Featherstone: We do not collect the information in the form requested however DFID promotes affordable housing centrally through the Community-Led Infrastructure Finance Facility (CLIFF) that works across 14 countries in Africa and Asia. By December 2015, CLIFF will have constructed 28,000 new core housing units and improved access to water and sanitation services for up to 445,000 people. CLIFF does not currently work in Sierra Leone.

Afghanistan

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Answer of 3 July 2014, UIN 206962, on Afghanistan, what memoranda of understanding have been signed between her Department and the Afghan Investment Support Agency in regards to the Bost Agri and Bost Airfield projects covering the period 2009 to present; and if she will place in the Library copies of such memoranda.

Justine Greening: An MOU was signed in April 2012 which is no longer in operation.

Art Works

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what the cost to the public purse was of the Girl Effect Art Installation in her Departmental offices.

Lynne Featherstone: There is no Girl Effect Art Installation in DFID offices. The “GIRL” letters were commissioned as a backdrop for Girl Summit 2014, an event hosted by the UK Government and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to help bring an end to female genital mutilation and child, early and forced marriage. They were also used as a backdrop for #YouthforChange, a youth event held at the Department for International Development on 19 July to kick-start a youth movement on girls’ rights.   Nike Foundation made a substantive financial contribution to the Girl Summit, including providing funds to cover the cost of the “GIRL” letters. These continue to be displayed in the entrance hall of the Department for International Development as a way of maintaining momentum from the Girl Summit and raising awareness of the need to end FGM and CEFM within a generation.

Families

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with reference to the Prime Minister's speech of 15 August 2011 calling for a family test to be applied to all domestic policy, which policies of her Department have been so assessed to date.

Lynne Featherstone: DFID leads the UK’s work to end extreme poverty internationally. It does not have a lead responsibility for domestic policies and has not made any assessments using the family test.

Overseas Aid

Mr David Blunkett: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if she will require staff in her Department to report on (a) consultations with disabled people and their organisations, (b) measure to increase inclusion in bilateral aid projects and (c) measures to increase inclusion in funding agreements with partner organisations.

Lynne Featherstone: As part of its International Development Committee hearing commitments, DFID is in the process of preparing a departmental framework on disability inclusion. This will set out our clear commitment, approach and actions to strengthening disability in our policy, programme and international work. It will also include an explanation of how we will strengthen departmental capability on disability, how we will influence our partners to do more, and a timeframe for taking forward the activities outlined in our response to the IDC recommendations.

Department for Education

Families

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Prime Minister's speech of 15 August 2011 calling for a family test to be applied to all domestic policy, which policies of her Department have been so assessed to date.

Mr Nick Gibb: On 18 August 2014 my Rt hon. Friend, the Prime Minister, announced that the family test was being formalised as part of the impact assessment for all domestic policies. From October 2014, every new domestic policy will be examined for its impact on the family.

Pre-school Education

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many safeguarding concerns Ofsted has identified in early years settings in the last year; and in what proportion of inspections have such concerns been raised.

Mr Sam Gyimah: This question is a matter for Ofsted. Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Sir Michael Wilshaw, will write to the hon. Member, and a copy of his response will be placed in the House Libraries.

Pre-school Education

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of early years settings have not been assessed by Ofsted within the 47 month limit.

Mr Sam Gyimah: This question is a matter for Ofsted. Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Sir Michael Wilshaw, will write to the hon. Member, and a copy of his response will be placed in the House Libraries.

Pre-school Education

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many early years settings have not been inspected by Ofsted in the last (a) four years, (b) five years and (c) six years.

Mr Sam Gyimah: This question is a matter for Ofsted. Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Sir Michael Wilshaw, will write to the hon. Member, and a copy of his response will be placed in the House Libraries.

Pre-school Education

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of inspected settings of early years providers were judged (a) outstanding, (b) good, (c) requires improvement and (d) failing in each of the last five years.

Mr Sam Gyimah: This question is a matter for Ofsted. Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Sir Michael Wilshaw, will write to the hon. Member, and a copy of his response will be placed in the House Libraries.

Social Services: Children

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to her Department's press release dated 14 June 2014, entitled New freedoms to help local areas to support vulnerable children, when she plans to publish new regulations on powers to delegate social core functions for vulnerable children.

Mr Edward Timpson: The Children and Young Persons Act 2008 (Relevant Care Functions) (England) Regulations 2014 came into force on 10 September 2014 and are published online at: www.legislation.gov.uk/id/uksi/2014/2407

Serious Case Review Panel

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will publish the minutes of all the meetings of the Serious Case Review Panel.

Mr Edward Timpson: As indicated in response to question 194096 (1 April 2014, column 629W), discussions at meetings of the national panel of independent experts on serious case reviews focus on cases put to the panel from local safeguarding children boards (LSCBs). The panel considers the points put forward by LSCBs about the application of the SCR criteria, the appointment of reviewers and the publication of SCR reports and agrees its response to each LSCB. These responses constitute the summary of discussions at the panel meetings. However, they cover sensitive material not in the public domain and could not therefore be routinely published. The panel recently published its first annual report which gives a summary of its first year of operation.

Children in Care

Mr Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she will publish her Department's response to the consultation, Improving Permanence for Looked After Children; and if she will introduce an entitlement to support for all children returning home from care.

Mr Edward Timpson: A robust assessment of the needs of a child and their family and how these needs will be met through ongoing support from the local authority is crucial if children are to return home safely and successfully from care. The Care Planning, Placement and Case Review (England) Regulations 2010 are clear that the child’s care plan must provide details of the advice, assistance and support that the responsible authority intends to provide after the child has returned home. Working Together to Safeguard Children 2013 sets out the principles and parameters of a good assessment. [1]Improving practice when children return home from care is a priority for the Government. In 2013, we consulted on a range of proposals to improve permanence for looked-after children. Department for Education officials convened a meeting of the relevant Expert Group on 9 September 2014 to discuss these issues and the consultation response. The Government’s formal response will be published later this year.[1] www.gov.uk/government/publications/working-together-to-safeguard-children

Travel: Concessions

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will bring forward proposals to extend the statutory entitlement for free transport for young people in education and training beyond the current age threshold of 16.

Mr David Laws: The statutory responsibility for transport to education and training for 16 to 19 year olds rests with local authorities, enabling them to make decisions which best match local needs and circumstances. Local authorities are expected to make reasonable decisions based on the needs of their population, the local transport infrastructure, and the resources they have available.The Government has no plans at present to extend the home to school statutory entitlement beyond the age of 16.

Further Education: Free School Meals

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the further education free schools' meal allowance.

Nick Boles: From September 2014, further education (FE) funded institutions are required to provide free meals to their disadvantaged 16- to 18-year-old students.Funding for FE free meals in 2014-15 has been set at £2.41 per meal. This is based on evidence of the average cost of providing school meals in secondary schools, using the latest available data from the 2012 School Food Trust Annual Survey.However, we recognise that institutions will face a range of different circumstances and so have given them the flexibility to enhance free meals funding from the 16 to 19 Bursary Fund. We have also made clear that where they do this they must ensure that they continue to provide sufficient support from that scheme to support students facing the full range of barriers to participation.

Further Education: Free School Meals

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the ability of all further education institutions to provide free meals to qualifying 16 to 18 year old students.

Nick Boles: During the development of the new policy to provide free meals to disadvantaged 16- to 18-year-old students in further education (FE) institutions, officials visited colleges to gain an understanding of their current facilities and discuss with them the implications of implementing the policy.We also sought the views of, and took on board comments from, a number of bodies representing FE sector institutions. As a result, we took steps to ensure that the new requirement was introduced in as flexible way as possible and did not require the creation of new facilities.We are not aware of any institutions that are not complying with the requirement to provide free meals.

Local Safeguarding Children Boards

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, who is responsible for monitoring the effectiveness of local safeguarding children boards' child sexual exploitation action plans.

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, who is responsible for monitoring the effectiveness of child sexual exploitation action plans by local safeguarding children's boards.

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which local safeguarding children's boards have failed inspections on their child sexual exploitation action plans.

Mr Edward Timpson: Ofsted undertakes a review of each local safeguarding children’s board (LSCB) at the same time as they undertake their inspection of local authorities’ services for children in need of help and protection and looked after children. Neither the review nor the inspection makes specific judgements about the sexual exploitation of children or the effectiveness of the local child sexual exploitation action plans. However, inspectors are required to include in the cases they evaluate “children at risk of harm from physical, emotional and sexual abuse and neglect; inspectors will also want to identify those children and young people where the local authority have concerns that they may be vulnerable to child sexual exploitation and those children and young people who have been missing from care, home and education”. In undertaking the LSCB review inspectors are required to “evaluate the quality and impact of the policies and procedures produced by the LSCB, such as the local thresholds document and the child sexual exploitation action plan.” An LSCB’s response to child sexual exploitation is considered as part of the overall judgement on the performance of the LSCB. Seven LSCBs of the 331 inspected since the new framework came into being in November 2013 have been found to be inadequate.

Mr Edward Timpson: Ofsted undertakes a review of each local safeguarding children’s board (LSCB) at the same time as they undertake their inspection of local authorities’ services for children in need of help and protection and looked after children. Neither the review nor the inspection makes specific judgements about the sexual exploitation of children or the effectiveness of the local child sexual exploitation action plans. However, inspectors are required to include in the cases they evaluate “children at risk of harm from physical, emotional and sexual abuse and neglect; inspectors will also want to identify those children and young people where the local authority have concerns that they may be vulnerable to child sexual exploitation and those children and young people who have been missing from care, home and education”. In undertaking the LSCB review inspectors are required to “evaluate the quality and impact of the policies and procedures produced by the LSCB, such as the local thresholds document and the child sexual exploitation action plan.” An LSCB’s response to child sexual exploitation is considered as part of the overall judgement on the performance of the LSCB. Seven LSCBs of the 331 inspected since the new framework came into being in November 2013 have been found to be inadequate.

Children: Protection

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what multi-agency safeguarding boards are operated by each local authority.

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which local authorities operate multi-agency safeguarding hubs.

Mr Edward Timpson: The Government does not prescribe which multi-agency model local authorities should use to share information about children and their families. Approaches to organising contact, assessment and referral services in a local area are a matter for local authorities and their partners. The Department for Education does not monitor which approach each local authority uses. Ofsted monitors the effectiveness of local multi-agency information sharing arrangements under the single inspection framework. The Department does not collect data on the models used by local authorities to share information about safeguarding. However, the Home Office undertook a project to improve national and local understanding of the different local multi-agency models in place, and as part of this surveyed all local authorities. In 2013, responses were received from 63 of 152 local authority areas, 64% of which stated they had some kind of multi-agency model in operation. The ‘Multi-Agency Working and Information Sharing Project – Early Findings’ report, published July 2013, and the Final report, published in July 2014, gives examples of areas that use multi-agency safeguarding hubs and other multi-agency models. Both reports are published found online at:www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/225012/MASH_Product.pdfwww.gov.uk/government/publications/multi-agency-working-and-information-sharing-project

Young Offenders: Convictions

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the number of children held in secure children's homes who have not been convicted of any crime in each of the last five years.

Mr Edward Timpson: The Department for Education collects data on the reasons for which children have been placed in secure children’s homes. There are three categories: those that have been detained or sentenced by the criminal courts; those placed in a criminal justice context and those placed on ‘welfare grounds’ under the Children Act 1989 (the Act). On 31 March 2014 there were 104 children placed in Secure Children’s Homes across England and Wales on welfare grounds. Within this latter category, we do not hold data that allows us to determine whether each child has been convicted of a crime.Restricting the liberty of a child outside of the criminal justice context is a serious step. Section 25 of the Act sets out the criteria which must be considered before placing a young person in secure accommodation.

Unemployment: Young People

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate her Department has made of the number of students aged between 16 to 18 unable to participate in education, jobs or training because they are unable to afford the associated transport costs.

Mr David Laws: The Department for Education does not hold this information. However, most young people have access to a discount or concession on local travel from their local transport providers, their local authority, or from their education or training provider. The £180million bursary fund is also available to support young people with the costs associated with attending education or training, and transport is the biggest single area of expenditure for which this fund is used.

Kings Free Schools and Academies Trust

Mr David Ward: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will call an independent public inquiry into events at Kings Free Schools and Academies Trust.

Mr Edward Timpson: No. An independent public inquiry would not be appropriate while a related police investigation is ongoing.

Teachers: Training

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the cost of advertising for initial teaching training courses in each year since 2010.

Mr David Laws: The estimated cost of advertising for initial teacher training courses for each financial year since 2010 is: 2010-112011-122012-132013-14Estimate of advertising costs£3,530,000£2,480,000£4,650,000£1,480,000 These estimates include purchased media space in TV, newspapers, magazines, posters and online. The changes in expenditure over this period reflect the change in delivery of advertising, which emphasises digital and social media marketing, and other promotional activity over television and press advertising.

Employment: Young People

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate her Department has made of the proportion of young people aged (a) 16, (b) 17 and (c) 18 who have been recorded as being in jobs without training in each year since 2010.

Nick Boles: The proportion of 16-, 17- and 18-year-olds in employment but not in education or training at the end of each year since 1994 is available in Table 5a of the ‘Main SFR tables and figures’ spreadsheet. This is part of the “Participation in education, training and employment, age 16 to 18” statistical first release, which is published online at:www.gov.uk/government/statistics/participation-in-education-training-and-employment-age-16-to-18

Ministry of Justice

Billing

Mr Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the value is of duplicate supplier payments identified by his Department since 2010; and what proportion of such payments have since been recovered in each of the last two financial years.

Mr Shailesh Vara: In the financial years 2011/12, 2012/13 and 2013/14 no duplicate supplier payments were made; all duplicate invoices were stopped before payment and therefore no recovery action was necessary. In 2010/11 duplicate payments totalling £8,964.35 were made. This represents a small proportion, 0.039%, of the total number of duplicate payments invoiced over the four year period. It is possible that this entire amount was recovered, however, disproportionate cost would be incurred in determining this.

Bail

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much has been collected in sureties when defendants breached their bail conditions and a surety had been given on their behalf before bail was granted in each of the last three years.

Mr Shailesh Vara: The following surety monies have been collected when defendants breached their bail conditions and a surety had been given before bail was granted: 1 April 2013 - 31 March 2014: £247,834.461 April 2012 – 31 March 2013: £739,192.351 April 2011 – 31 March 2012: £433,398.54 The value of bail monies forfeited in 2013-14 is lower than the value of forfeitures in 2012-13 due to a lower number of bail terms being breached.

Prisons

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the number of states party to the European Convention on Human Rights whose prisons breach any term of that convention.

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the effect of breaches of the European Convention on Human Rights by other states on the deportation of people from the UK to prisons in (a) EU and (b) non-EU countries.

Andrew Selous: No such estimate has been made. However, information on states party to the European Convention on Human Rights whose prisons have caused them to be found to be in violation of the Convention by the European Court of Human Rights can be found on the Court’s searchable database at:http://hudoc.echr.coe.int/sites/eng/Pages/search.aspx#{%22documentcollectionid2%22:[%22GRANDCHAMBER%22,%22CHAMBER%22]}(208572)We remain alert to the fact that legal challenges in relation to poor prison conditions may create obstacles to prisoner transfers. We are aware of one ongoing case within the European Union where prison conditions have been raised as a reason to prevent transfer proceedings but this is still subject to ongoing appeal. We are at an early stage of testing compulsory prisoner transfers to non-European Union countries and have not received any challenges of this nature to date.(209123)

Prisons

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average proportion of (a) male and (b) female prisoners held in (i) open, (ii) closed and (iii) resettlement prisons was in each of the last five years.

Andrew Selous: The proportion of male and female prisoners held in open, closed and resettlement prisons in England and Wales, for years 2010 - 2014, can be found in table 1.  Categorisation and allocation to open prison is never an automatic progression. Public protection is foremost in the decision making process. Only prisoners whose risks are manageable in conditions of low security will be allocated to an open prison. Where necessary, offending behaviour work will be undertaken in closed conditions in order to reduce an offender's risk before transfer. Once allocated to open prison, prisoners continue to be monitored and are returned to closed prison immediately if there are any concerns about their suitability for low security conditions.  Placing a prisoner in open conditions serves two main purposes. Firstly, it facilitates the eventual resettlement of prisoners into the community, in conditions more similar to those that they will face in the community than closed conditions can provide. Open prisons provide resettlement benefits including opportunities for training and employment, to re-establish family ties and to enable housing needs to be met prior to the prisoner’s eventual release into the community. Secondly, it allows for risk to be assessed in order to inform release decisions and, should the prisoner secure release, to inform risk management plans for ongoing supervision in the community. Thus, for many prisoners who have spent a considerable amount of time in custody, this can assist in their successful reintegration in the community and help protect the public.  Keeping the public safe is our priority. That is why the current Government has taken action on both releases on temporary licence (ROTL) and absconds from prison. Last year, a fundamental review of ROTL policy and practice was commissioned and, in March 2014, a package of measures was announced to ensure that the public was properly protected. Some of those measures have been brought forward so that they begin to take effect immediately, particularly with more serious offenders where the review concluded that an enhanced risk assessment approach should be taken.  The public have understandable concerns about the failure of some prisoners to return from temporary release from open prison. Keeping the public safe is our priority and we will not allow the actions of a small minority of offenders to undermine public confidence in the prison system. The number of temporary release failures remains very low—less than one failure in every 1,000 releases and about five in every 100,000 releases involving alleged offending—but we take each and every incident seriously. The Government has already ordered immediate changes to tighten up the system as a matter of urgency. Prisoners are no longer transferred to open conditions if they have previously absconded from open prisons, or if they have failed to return or re-offended while released on temporary licence. 



Prison population 2010 to 2014
(Excel SpreadSheet, 22 KB)

Fines: Surcharges

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much in victim surcharge has been (a) imposed and (b) collected on all Crown Court sentences (i) since 1 October 2012 and (ii) for the equivalent period up to that date.

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much in victim surcharge has been (a) imposed and (b) collected in cases involving Crown Court sentences of imprisonment since 1 October 2012.

Mike Penning: It is not possible to identify the amounts of victim surcharge imposed and collected which just relates to impositions made in the Crown Court or in relation to custodial sentences. This information could only be provided a disproportionate cost by carrying out a manual check of all financial impositions.

Crown Courts: Wales

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many cases were transferred from magistrates' courts to Crown courts in each magistrates' courts bench area in North Wales in the last five years for which records are available.

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many cases were dealt with by Crown courts in North Wales in the last five years for which records are available.

Mr Shailesh Vara: The number of cases transferred (sent) to the Crown Court for each magistrates' courts bench area (local justice area) in North Wales from 2009 to 2013 is provided in Table 1. These figures do not include appeal cases, which are instigated by the appellant. The number of cases dealt with (disposed) in the Crown Court in North Wales from 2009 to 2013 is provided in Table 2. It includes cases sent from the magistrates’ courts, along with appeals and breach cases initiated at the Crown Court. 



Numbers of cases in mags to crown
(Excel SpreadSheet, 30.5 KB)

Prisons: Wales

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will take steps to keep local elected representatives informed of progress in the construction of a prison in North Wales.

Andrew Selous: The prison will be a huge benefit to the region. Once operational it is estimated that the prison will create around 1,000 jobs and boost the local economy by around £23m per year.  Members of Parliament from North Wales have been kept informed at key project milestones or of issues of regional interest including site selection, identification of a preferred contractor and a local supplier event. I will continue to ensure that Members are kept informed at future key milestones.

Magistrates' Courts: Wrexham

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what consultation has taken place between his Department and interested parties on custody facilities at Wrexham Police Station currently used by Wrexham Magistrates' Court.

Mr Shailesh Vara: Whilst North Wales Police consulted on plans for their estate, including their property in Wrexham, in 2011, there has been no consultation between Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunal Service and other parties on the question of custody facilities at Wrexham Magistrates’ Court.

Magistrates' Courts: Wrexham

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make an assessment of the future availability of custody facilities at Wrexham Magistrates' Court in the next three years.

Mr Shailesh Vara: Wrexham Magistrates’ Court has access to cells at Wrexham Police Station until late 2016 at the very least. HM Courts and Tribunals Service will make an assessment of all available options for custodial cases at Wrexham Magistrates’ Court thereafter.

Wardship

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what legal aid his Department makes available for cases involving wardship.

Mr Shailesh Vara: The Government has prioritised civil legal aid for the most important cases, including those involving wardship. Under the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012, civil legal aid is available (subject to means and merits tests) for matters where the High Court exercises its inherent jurisdiction in relation to children and vulnerable adults.

Electronic Tagging

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 13 January 2014, Official Report, column 398W, on electronic tagging, what progress he has made on involving police and crime commissioners in the stakeholder group for offender electronic monitoring technology; and if he will make a statement.

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 13 January 2014, Official Report, column 398W, on electronic tagging, what progress he has made on engaging police forces as early adopters of the new arrangements for offender electronic monitoring technology; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Selous: Following the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice’s announcement on 15 July 2014 of the award of contracts to four companies to deliver the new electronic monitoring service, I am keen to work closely with Police and Crime Commissioners, police forces and other key stakeholders across the criminal justice system to ensure that opportunities to make use of the capability offered by the technology are fully exploited. We will be taking action over the coming months to engage with stakeholders.

Electronic Tagging

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when he plans to announce a new preferred bidder for the national contract for electronic offender-monitoring technology.

Andrew Selous: The competition to select the providers of next-generation electronic monitoring services in England and Wales has now concluded.On 15 July the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice announced the award of contract to four companies who together will deliver the new Electronic Monitoring service. British company Steatite will develop and manufacture the equipment. Capita will manage the overall service, Airbus Defence and Space will provide satellite-mapping and Telefonica will supply the network.

Electronic Tagging

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the value is of the contract awarded to Capita for the continuation of electronic monitoring contracts on an interim basis.

Andrew Selous: The contract with Capita to manage the existing electronic monitoring service on an interim basis, until the new service comes into operation, will cost a total of £67.1m up to December 2014.Under these interim arrangements, G4S and Serco no longer have a direct role in delivering the service on the ground – and we have far greater oversight of costs and charging than previously, with direct access to the suppliers’ systems.

Electronic Tagging

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 31 March 2014, to the hon. Member for Barnsley Central, Official Report, column 528W, on electronic tagging, whether the anticipated roll-out of satellite tagging by the end of the year will be on a full or pilot basis.

Andrew Selous: I have previously announced that we will begin using the new tags with satellite technology by the end of the year with offenders subject to release on temporary licence from prison. This will be initially on a limited basis as the new tags become available, and will allow us to undertake assurance testing prior to wider rollout.

Parole Board

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the contribution by the Minister for Policing, Criminal Justice and Victims of 9 September 2014, Official Report, column 748, on victims of crime, if he will publish the notes of his meeting with the Parole Board Group.

Andrew Selous: On 4 September 2014, the Secretary of State for Justice met the Chairman of the Parole Board, Sir David Calvert-Smith, and Claire Bassett, Chief Executive of the Parole Board. One of the issues that the meeting discussed was victim personal statements. It was agreed that victim personal statements play an important role in the parole process and can be used, by the panel, to assess whether the offender understands the full impact of their crimes on the victim. The meeting also noted that the independent Parole Board will prepare guidance to victims about the role of victim personal statements in the parole process. Victims of crime need and deserve the best possible support. It is right that victims of such horrific crimes are able to submit a Victim Personal Statement to the Parole Board considering the offender’s case, setting out how the offence has affected them and the impact that the offender’s release would have.

Prisons: Wales

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when he signed the contract with Lend Lease to construct a prison in North Wales.

Andrew Selous: Lend Lease were announced as the contractor for the design and build of the prison in North Wales on the 30th May 2014 and the Project Partnering Agreement contract was signed on the 15th July 2014.

Prisons: Wales

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he has taken to engage with training providers in North Wales in connection with the construction of the new prison in North Wales.

Andrew Selous: MoJ is working with Lend Lease and local stakeholders to achieve the commitments made for the project, including providing 100 apprenticeships throughout the life of the project and 500 work placements per year.  This includes the creation of a North Wales Prison Employment, Skills and Engagement Committee that is focusing on enabling the delivery of apprenticeships, training and local employment and work placement days.

Employment Tribunals Service

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) women and (b) men have been unable to pay employment tribunal fees in the last year.

Mr Shailesh Vara: HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) is unable to collect such data, since it cannot identify people who choose not to use the employment tribunals for whatever reason. A fee remission scheme is available for anyone without the means to pay a fee in the employment tribunals.

Employment Tribunals Service

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) women and (b) men have pursued discrimination cases against their employers in employment tribunals in each of the last five years.

Mr Shailesh Vara: The number of discrimination cases received can be found in the latest official statistics release published by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ). Statistical data are published annually and quarterly, including volumes of jurisdictional discrimination complaints received and disposed of. That information is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/tribunal-statistics-quarterly-april-to-june-2014. The tables below provide data on the number of jurisdictional complaints accepted for discrimination claims by gender for the last five financial years(1) and the number of jurisdictional complaints where no gender was recorded. Table 1 – Number of jurisdictional complaints accepted by gender for discrimination claimsYearFemaleMale2009-1023,02713,8212010-1126,04113,9252011-1217,28712,3362012-1322,41413,6822013-1415,2888,699  Table 2 – Number of jurisdictional complaints accepted for discrimination where no gender was recorded2009-103,5982010-117112011-121922012-131862013-14258(1) These data have been taken from a live case management system so may differ from the previously published official statistics. These data have been extracted specifically to answer this question and are not subject to the same level of checking as the official statistics.

Coroners

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many jury inquests were carried out in each of the last 10 years.

Simon Hughes: The number of jury inquests held can be found in the statistical tables accompanying the ‘Coroners Statistics 2013’ publication, which is accessible via the link below: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coroners-statistics Table 10 provides data from 1995 to 2013. Data for 2014 will be published on 14 May 2015 in the ‘Coroners Statistics 2014’ publication, which will be available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/coroners-and-burials-statistics

Victim Personal Statement Scheme

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the number and proportion of victims who have made personal statements at criminal trials in each of the last 10 years.

Mike Penning: The Government implemented a new Victims’ Code in December 2013. The Code entitles victims to make a Victim Personal Statement (VPS), which gives the victim a stronger voice in the criminal justice system by allowing them to describe the impact the crime has had on them.  The Ministry of Justice does not record information in relation to the number and proportion of victims who have made personal statements at criminal trials. The Government has made a commitment to monitor criminal justice agencies’ compliance with the Victims’ Code and in “Our Commitment to Victims,” published on 15 September 2014, we announced that criminal justice agencies will publish information on how they have improved services for victims from April 2015.

Children: Abuse

Dr Julian Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will establish a fund to enable longer-term support for people who were abused as children.

Mike Penning: The Ministry of Justice provides £4.4million each year to rape support centres. These centres provide independent, specialist help and support to women and girls over the age of thirteen who have been victims of recent and historic rape or sexual abuse. The Female Rape Support Fund now funds 84 rape support centres in England and Wales, and two more centres will open later this year. The fund has helped established 15 new centres since 2010. Additionally, the Ministry of Justice has, for the first time, established a dedicated Male Rape Support Fund. This fund will commission specific services to ensure that men who have been raped or sexually abused at any time in their lives will have access to the help they need. These services are available for both recent and historic cases.

Crime: Victims

Mark Menzies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent discussions he has had on ensuring that victims of crime are adequately compensated.

Mike Penning: The Justice Secretary and Home Secretary have regular discussions about a range of matters concerning the criminal justice system which includes the impact of crime on victims.Compensation orders are available to the courts to require an offender to compensate a victim for personal injury, loss or damage. This Government has strengthened the regime by obliging courts to consider making a compensation order in appropriate cases, and lifting the £5,000 cap on compensation awards in the magistrates’ court.In September 2014 the Justice Secretary announced the Government’s Commitment to Victims, which includes developing plans and consulting, by December 2014, on options for paying compensation to victims up front to prevent compensation arriving months or years after imposition as and when the offender is able to pay.Victims of crimes of violence may be eligible for compensation under the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme.

Ministry of Defence

Armed Forces: Pensions

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the average (a) individual payout and (b) individual financial settlement under the Armed Forces Pension Scheme has been in each year since 2010.

Anna Soubry: The Armed Forces Pension Scheme is an occupational pension scheme. Payments are made using calculations based on a Service person’s salary and number of years service. It would give a false impression to give an answer based on a mathematical calculation of dividing the annual expenditure by the number of Pension members. It is therefore not appropriate to provide an average individual pay out and individual financial settlement.   Financial YearNumber* of paymentsTotal paid out£ millions2010-11377,325 Pensions & dependants10,455 Lump Sum3,5192011-12383,490 Pensions & dependants11,945 Lump Sum3,8112012-13390,040 Pensions & dependants12,950 Lump Sum4,0712013-14396,603 Pensions & dependants13,175 Lump Sum4,089 * in line with Defence Statistics rounding policy all figures have been rounded to the nearest 5 The Armed Forces Pension Scheme is an occupational pension scheme. Payments are made using calculations based on a Service person’s salary and number of years service.

War Pensions

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the average average (a) individual payout and (b) individual financial settlement under the War Pension Scheme has been in each year since 2010.

Anna Soubry: The War Pensions Scheme provides no fault compensation for Service personnel disabled as a result of their service in HM Forces where the cause of the injury, disability or disease is before 6 April 2005, whether or not the condition was sustained during a conflict. The table sets out the total number of claims and total amount of payments. It would give a false impression to give an answer based on a mathematical calculation of dividing the annual expenditure by the number of recipients. Each award is specific to the individual and assessments are made based on an individual’s level of disability at any one time. Should the accepted condition deteriorate, the recipient may request a review of the level of their assessment. War Pension entitlement is given for life and the percentage assessment of each accepted condition changes as the level of disability deteriorates or improves over an individual’s lifetime. Financial YearNumber* of paymentsTotal paid out£ millions2010-11142,485 Disablement pensioners28,425 War Widows3,260 Lump Sum Gratuities£9352011-12135,160 Disablement pensioners26,375 War Widows2,865 Lump Sum Gratuities£9162012-13128,280 Disablement pensioners24,415 War Widows2,600 Lump Sum Gratuities£9082013-14121,940 Disablement pensioners22,260 War Widows4,120 Lump Sum Gratuities£859 * in line with Defence Statistics rounding policy all figures have been rounded to the nearest 5 In addition to a War Disablement Pension, some veterans may be eligible for a range of supplementary allowances such as Constant Attendance Allowance, Unemployability Supplement, Allowance for Lowered Standard of Occupation or War Pensioners Mobility Supplement. These allowances mirror the benefits payable by the Department for Work and Pensions but are tax free and paid at a slightly more generous rate. Entitlement to these allowances is determined by individual circumstance and level of disability. These allowances are not included in the number of payments listed above. Each war pension award is specific to the individual and assessments are made based on an individual’s level of disability at any one time. Should the accepted condition deteriorate over time, the recipient may request a review of their assessment. The above information gives an average individual payout per annum, it does not give an overall ‘settlement’.

Northern Ireland

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) soldiers in Scottish regiments and (b) Scottish soldiers in other regiments were (i) killed and (ii) injured on duty in Northern Ireland during the IRA terrorist campaign.

Mr Mark Francois: Between 14 August 1969 and 31 August 2014, 41 soldiers from Scottish regiments died on duty as a result of terrorist activity in Northern Ireland. The last of the 41 deaths occurred in 1993. Information on soldiers that were injured is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Islamic State

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, within what timeframe the UK could deploy aircraft capable of delivering airstrikes on Islamic State.

Mr Mark Francois: The Royal Air Force has a well documented expeditionary capability. Due to this and the work done to prepare crews and aircraft for possible action, armed Tornado GR4 flights were in the air and available to strike ISIL in Iraq on the morning of 27 of September, less than one day after the parliamentary vote.

Army Reserve

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) new recruits and (b) former regulars entered the Army Reserve in each year between 2010-11 and 2013-14.

Mr Julian Brazier: Data relating to the background of entrants into the untrained and trained strength of the Army Reserve Group A is available for 2012-13, 2013-14 and the first quarter of 2014-15, and is as follows:   Source of Trained and Untrained Army Reserve Group A Intake2012-132013-142014-15 (April- June)New Entrants3,7652,720660From Regular Army8201,210345From Full Time Reserve Service15514530Rejoiners from TA/Army Reserve30022570From Officer Trainings Corps or other Service54541580   Group A includes Volunteer Reserves, Mobilised TA, High Readiness Reserves and Officer Training Corps support and training staff, and Officers under training.

NATO

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will place in the Library a copy of the (a) NATO Readiness Action Plan, (b) Alliance's Review of the Arrangements for NATO Interim Ballistic Missile Defence Capability, (c) NATO Framework Nations Concept and (d) NATO Enhanced Cyber Defence Policy.

Mr Julian Brazier: No. This request relates to a number of classified NATO documents; therefore agreement to release such information would require the agreement of all Allies through the office of the NATO Secretary General.

HMS Daring

Mr Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much (a) his Department and (b) BAE Systems have paid for work on HMS Daring since she was handed over to the Royal Navy.

Mr Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much (a) his Department and (b) BAE Systems have paid for work on HMS Dauntless since she was handed over to the Royal Navy.

Mr Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much (a) his Department and (b) BAE Systems has paid for work on HMS Diamond since she was handed over to the Royal Navy.

Mr Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much (a) his Department and (b) BAE Systems have paid for work on HMS Duncan since she was handed over to the Royal Navy.

Mr Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much (a) his Department and (b) BAE Systems have paid for work on HMS Dragon since she was handed over to the Royal Navy.

Mr Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much (a) his Department and (b) BAE Systems have paid for work on HMS Defender since she was handed over to the Royal Navy.

Mr Philip Dunne: Work on the Type 45 Destroyers funded by the Ministry of Defence includes In-Service Support and Fleet Time Engineering (FTE). Under the In-Service Support Contract, which covers the entire class of vessels, costs are not attributable to individual ships. It is, therefore, not possible to identify separately the total cost of the work carried out on individual ships since entering service with the Royal Navy. The total cost to the Department of In-Service Support and FTE on the six ships in the class since they entered service is £370 million.BAE Systems has not funded any work on the Type 45 Destroyers.

World War II: Military Decorations

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many former service personnel have received the Arctic Star medal.

Anna Soubry: As at 31 August 2014, the Ministry of Defence Medal Office has issued 4,420 Arctic Star awards to former Service personnel.

HMS Prince of Wales

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether funds have been allocated for the purchase of new F-35s for the aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Philip Dunne: The Department has allocated funding for the UK’s first tranche of F-35 aircraft which will be used for both land and maritime based operations. To provide maximum flexibility, the Ministry of Defence does not allocate aircraft to specific ships. The final number of F-35s to be procured by the UK will only be determined after the 2015 Strategic Defence and Security Review.

Reserve Forces: Recruitment

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the average time between completing online application forms and successful applicants starting training is for each of the reserve forces.

Mr Julian Brazier: The new Maritime Reserves online application facility went live on 4 June this year. They have received more than 280 applications through this route to date but none of the applicants has yet been allocated to training. For the Royal Auxiliary Air Force, the average times are 109 days for Officer applicants and 134 days for other ranks. For members of the Army Reserve who enlisted in August 2014, the average length of time between application and enlistment was 251 days. The Army aims to reduce this timescale considerably and has recently made changes to enable applicants to join the Army Reserve as quickly as possible. These include changes to the medical process; increasing capacity at assessment centres; and simplifying and streamlining applications by removing an interview stage for Reserve soldier candidates. It is the Chief of the General Staff's intention that units should have greater control of the process to minimise unnecessary delay.

Iraq

Mrs Mary Glindon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make representations to his counterpart in the federal government in Iraq on allowing inspections of aid and arms shipments to be made by their officials in the international airports of the Kurdistan region in Iraq.

Mr Mark Francois: The Government of Iraq inspects consignments of UK-delivered weapons, ammunition and other military equipment and supplies arriving into the country from abroad in Baghdad prior to their onward internal movement to the Kurdistan region of Iraq. The Ministry of Defence does not have any plans to make representations to the Government of Iraq on the matter.

Army

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when the Chief of the General Staff was informed of the decision to reduce the size of the Army from 94,000 to 82,000; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Fallon: In July 2011.

Veterans: Homelessness

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made of the number of veterans who were homeless in each year since May 2010.

Anna Soubry: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) does not hold this information.We attach considerable importance to minimising the risk of Service personnel becoming homeless on leaving the Armed Forces, and go to considerable lengths to prevent this, for example through the provision of targeted housing advice during resettlement and, since April of this year, the Forces Help to Buy scheme. To date, the MOD has committed over £1.3 million of the £35 million LIBOR fines in support of homeless and vulnerable veterans, and hopes to announce further funding in support of homeless hostels, drawing on the £40 million Veterans Accommodation Fund.For further information on this and the support available to veterans, I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 11 December 2013 (Official Report, columns 259-60W) to the hon. member for Colchester (Sir Bob Russell).

Ukraine

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the value of financial assistance to the government of Ukraine for the improvement of its command, control and communication capabilities was in the last five years.

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many UK (a) armed forces and (b) civilian personnel have been deployed to assist the government of Ukraine with the improvement of its command, control and communication capabilities in the last three years.

Mr Mark Francois: Since April 2009 the Ministry of Defence (MOD) has spent approximately £3.9 million supporting Ukraine through the Defence Assistance Fund and the Conflict Pool. Many of the activities funded through these mechanisms support command, control and communications capabilities (C3), to a greater or lesser extent, including through the provision of joint exercising, military education and contributions to NATO coordinated activities. However, the MOD is unable to breakdown this cost further to provide a figure for financial assistance specifically related to C3 alone. Activities highlighted included the deployment of both UK civilian and military personnel to Ukraine and Ukrainian personnel to the UK. One such example from September of this year was the deployment of 41 personnel from the Light Dragoons to Ukraine to take part in EXERCISE RAPID TRIDENT, an annual US/Ukrainian multinational exercise aimed at enhancing interoperability and strengthening NATO partnerships. Elements of such exercise activity play an important role in practising C3 capabilities, but we are not able to give a figure for the number of personnel that have been deployed to Ukraine specifically for C3.At the NATO Summit in Wales, we announced that the UK would lead a NATO C4 (Command, Control, Communications and Computers) Trust Fund for Ukraine and will contribute over €400,000 to this initiative. Work is now under way on the implementation of the Trust Fund.

Armed Forces: Housing

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many soldiers made redundant as a result of Army 2020 have been evicted from army barracks; and how much notice those soldiers were given before eviction.

Anna Soubry: As part of Army 2020, 7,280 soldiers were made redundant in tranches 1 to 3 of the Armed Forces Redundancy Programme, and around 1,000 personnel were selected in the fourth and final tranche, the majority of whom will have left the Army by June 2015. All personnel selected receive at least six months notice, twelve if they did not apply for redundancy.Eligibility for Single Service Living Accommodation ceases when an individual leaves the Army. As part of the redundancy process all individuals are provided with advice on housing after leaving the Armed Forces. This includes the issue, on request, of a cessation certificate up to six months before eligibility ends. This allows individuals to request assistance with housing options from Councils and Housing Associations.

Department for Work and Pensions

Social Security Benefits: Fraud

David T. C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much money fraudulently claimed by Ms Janet Curtis has been recovered.

Mr Mark Harper: Recovering overpaid benefit is a high priority for DWP and we take all reasonable and lawful steps to achieve this. We are unable to supply the information requested because of our duties under data protection legislation.

Access to Work Programme

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many new beneficiaries of the Access to Work scheme had (a) mental health conditions, (b) physical impairments and (c) sensory impairments as the main disabling condition recorded by his Department in each of the last 24 months.

Steve Webb: The information requested is in the attached tables; numbers of new starts to Access to Work 2012-13 and 2013-14.These figures are a breakdown of the published official statistics available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/access-to-work-statistics-on-recipients--2



New Starts Access to Work 2012-2014.
(PDF Document, 61.81 KB)

Welfare State: Northern Ireland

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate his Department has made of (a) capital cost and (b) maintenance and upgrading costs of a new IT system which would be required by the Northern Ireland Assembly's Department of Social Development to administer welfare-related matters in the event of Northern Ireland not proceeding with the current UK-wide welfare reform programme.

Mr Mark Harper: Northern Ireland is responsible for its own social security, pensions and child support systems. The Northern Ireland and Great Britain systems have traditionally operated in tandem in what is effectively a United Kingdom wide system. The information technology infrastructure that supports these systems covers the whole of the United Kingdom with a proportionate share of the cost being paid by Northern Ireland. Currently the total cost of running the information technology infrastructure and new developments is around £1bn per annum of which £16m is met by Northern Ireland.Should Northern Ireland decide not to mirror the welfare reform measures in Great Britain, it would be a matter for the Executive to determine and fund the IT systems needed as a result of their decision.

Personal Independence Payment

Mrs Anne McGuire: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the cost of assessing the eligibility of (a) people with learning disabilities, (b) deaf people, (c) blind people, (d) people with primary or secondary MS, (e) people with Alzheimer's disease, (f) people with motor neurone disease, (g) people with muscular dystrophy and (h) deafblind people who are in receipt of disability living allowance for the personal independence payment (PIP); and how often each will be expected to be reassessed for continued eligibility for PIP.

Mr Mark Harper: The information you have requested regarding the cost of assessment for PIP regarding different types of disability is not currently available. How often a person will be assessed to decide the correct level of entitlement for PIP will be dependent on the basis of individual needs and circumstances.

National Insurance

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people were allocated a National Insurance number in (a) 2012-13 and (b) 2013-14.

Steve Webb: The total number of NINo registrations to adult overseas nationals entering the UK in 2012/13 was: 562,000 and in 2013/14 it was: 603,000.

Disadvantaged: EU Grants and Loans

Mr Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how the Government is using the money it has drawn down from the Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived; whether the Government is drawing down its remaining entitlement from that fund through a reallocation of structural funds; and how the Government plans to use that remaining entitlement.

Esther McVey: Member States are in the process of agreeing their Operational Programmes with the European Commission. These need to be in place before any funding can be drawn down.

Work Programme

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what has been the median age of people (a) entering the Work Programme, (b) securing six months of employment through that programme and (c) completing two years on that programme and returning to their jobcentre.

Esther McVey: The information requested is shown in the table below.The median age of people (a) referred to the Work Programme, (b) had a Job Outcome lasting 6 months or over and (c) completed the Work Programme and returned to Jobcentre Plus, Great Britain June 2011 - March 2014. Median Age(years)Referrals35Job Outcomes (lasting 6 months or over)31Completed: Returned to Jobcentre Plus at 104 weeks37Completed: Returned to Jobcentre Plus post 104 weeks30

Work Programme

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much his Department has spent on job outcome payments for Work Programme participants aged (a) 18 to 24, (b) 25 to 34, (c) 35 to 44, (d) 45 to 49, (e) 50 to 54, (f) 55 to 59 and (g) 60 and over since June 2011.

Esther McVey: Financial payments on the Work Programme are not segmented by participant age. The exception is 18 to 24 year old Jobseekers Allowance participants, which has its own payment group. The table below shows job outcome payments from the most recently published financial information for that group, covering the period from June 2011 to the 31st March 2014. ParticipantsJob Outcome payments JSA 18 to 24£80,280,000

Work Programme

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much his Department has spent on job outcome payments for each Work Programme Payment Group since June 2011.

Esther McVey: The Work Programme has revolutionised how we help the long-term unemployed into work. It is designed to be good value for the taxpayer because providers only get paid on the results they achieve when they get someone into a lasting job, usually at least six months (or 3 for the hardest to help). So far more than 330,000 long-term unemployed people have been helped to escape long-term unemployment thanks to the Work Programme, which has contributed to the largest annual drop in long-term unemployment since 1998. The below table shows job outcome payments from the most recently published financial information, covering the period from June 2011 to the 31st March 2014. Payment GroupJob Outcome payments 1) Jobseeker’s Allowance 18 to 24£80,280,0002) Jobseeker’s Allowance 25 and over£151,468,0003) Jobseeker’s Allowance early entrants£74,377,0004) Jobseeker’s Allowance ex-Incapacity Benefit£3,537,0005) Employment and Support Allowance volunteer£3,254,0006) New Employment and Support Allowance claimant£12,030,0007) New Employment and Support Allowance ex-Incapacity Benefit£3,254,0008) Incapacity Benefit and Income Support£521,0009) Jobseeker’s Allowance prison leavers£3,068,000Total payments£331,789,000

Employment and Support Allowance

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of employment and support allowance claimants was in the (a) Support group and (b) Work Related Activity group in each quarter since October 2008.

Mr Mark Harper: The information requested is published and available here:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/esa-outcomes-of-work-capability-assessments-september-2014

Access to Work Programme

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average time taken to process financial assistance claims for specialist equipment through the Access to Work scheme was in each year since 1994.

Mr Mark Harper: Internal management measures of operational performance for Access to Work have not been published as they are not assured. Over the 20 year data request period the planning assumptions and methodology of measurement have changed a number of times making comparisons unreliable.

Children: Maintenance

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent estimate he has made of the number of parents (a) in receipt of child maintenance paid via the Child Support Agency (CSA) who will elect not to use the Child Maintenance Service's Collect and Pay service and (b) who currently use the CSA but who will elect to reach their own child maintenance arrangements following the changes introduced from 30 June 2014; and if he will make a statement.

Steve Webb: Most recent estimates show up that 800,000 Child Support Agency cases will close during the case closure process and 504,000 will apply to the Child Maintenance Service. Of these it is estimated that 202,000 cases will not use the Collect and Pay service and 169,000 of the 800,000 cases will make a Family Based Arrangement.

Children: Maintenance

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many (a) parents with care commitments and (b) non-resident parents have (i) registered with the Child Maintenance Service since 30 June 2014 and (ii) chosen to use the new Collect and Pay service since 11 August 2014.

Steve Webb: Information on the number of new applications received to the 2012 statutory scheme is available in Table 1, on page 7, of the Experimental Official Statistics on the 2012 Scheme administered by the Child Maintenance Service available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/359363/2012-child-maintenance-scheme-experimental-statistics-september-2014.pdf.Information on the chosen method of payment of those who are due to pay maintenance is available in Table 3 on page 9 of the above link.

Children: Maintenance

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will estimate the number of children in poverty affected by the changes to the child maintenance system introduced from 30 June 2014; and if he will make a statement.

Esther McVey: An assessment of the number of children in poverty affected by the changes to the child maintenance system introduced from 30 June 2014 could only be made at disproportionate cost. The Department for Work and Pensions does not generally record the income or circumstances of the families in receipt of child maintenance, only the income or benefit status of the parent liable to pay child maintenance.

Families

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Prime Minister's speech of 15 August 2011 calling for a family test applied to all domestic policy, which policies of his Department have been so assessed to date.

Steve Webb: On 18 August 2014 the Prime Minister announced that the family test was being formalised as part of the impact assessment for all domestic policies. From October 2014, every new domestic policy will be examined for its impact on the family.

Children: Maintenance

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average weekly child maintenance payment received via the Child Support Agency was for parents with care commitments in 2013-14.

Steve Webb: For cases administered by the Child Support Agency the average weekly maintenance liability can be found on page 18 of the Child Support Agency Quarterly Summary of Statistics for June 2014 at:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/347753/csa_qtr_summ_stats_jun14i.pdf

Children: Maintenance

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many parents with (a) care commitments and (b) children were in receipt of child maintenance paid via the Child Support Agency on 29 June 2014.

Steve Webb: As at the quarter ending June 2014, there were 431,700 parents with care receiving maintenance via the Child Support Agency collection service and 595,100 children benefiting from maintenance received.

Electronic Cigarettes

David T. C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what guidance the Health and Safety Executive has issued on the use of e-cigarettes in the workplace.

Mr Mark Harper: The Health and Safety Executive has issued no guidance on the use of e-cigarettes in the workplace.Smoking in the workplace, including the use of e-cigarettes, is dealt with as a public health matter within Great Britain. The Department of Health takes the lead on this in England, in Wales this is a matter for the Welsh Assembly Government and in Scotland it is the responsibility of the Scottish Executive.

Domestic Visits

Sheila Gilmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 14 July 2014, Official Report, column 583W, on domestic visits, what domestic visits he has made since January 2013; and what the purpose of each such visit was.

Steve Webb: The Secretary of State regularly visits Departmental offices across the country to meet with staff providing services to DWP customers. He also makes regular visits to external organisations in relation to welfare reform. Details of any events where hospitality is provided are published regularly by the Cabinet Office and are available at:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/dwp-ministers-hospitality-and-gifts

Social Security Benefits: Medical Examinations

Stephen Gilbert: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average waiting time is for an Atos medical assessment in (a) Cornwall and (b) the UK.

Mr Mark Harper: The information requested on ESA is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.Statistics on the time taken to process Personal Independence Payment cases are intended for future publication. The Department's analysts are currently considering what information will be included in the release. The release will be pre-announced in line with UK Statistics Authority protocols.

Unemployed People: Mental Illness

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether Workplace Mental Health Support Service funding reflects demand from people with mental health problems who are out of work; and whether his Department plans to increase funding for the Workplace Mental Health Support Service.

Mr Mark Harper: The Access to Work Mental Health Support Service (MHSS) is not a service for those people with mental health conditions who are out of work.Jobcentre Plus offers a range of support to unemployed people with mental health conditions including: Mental Health and Wellbeing Partnership Managers; Disability Employment Advisers; and Work Psychologists.In January 2014, JCP launched the Employment and Wellbeing toolkit, which offers practical support to advisers to help them work with claimants affected by mental health problems.Overall funding for Access to Work has increased by £15m over this Spending Review period, fulfilling the government’s commitment which was set out in its response to the Sayce Review.

Children: Maintenance

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what guidance his Department has given to the Child Maintenance Service and Child Support Agency about parents who repeatedly report changes in circumstances.

Steve Webb: Where a person’s circumstances change, they are entitled to report them to the Child Suport Agency (CSA) or Child Maintenance Service (CMS). Where the reported change has substantive grounds for superseding an existing decision, the CSA / CMS will investigate that change applying the usual evidential requirements or supersession rules.Case officers have access to online procedures that provide a comprehensive guide on all aspects of handling child maintenance applications including procedures, policies and legislative references.

Children: Maintenance

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate his Department has made of the cost to the Child Maintenance Service and Child Support Agency of repeated changes of circumstances in child support maintenance by either parent in each year since 2010.

Steve Webb: The information is not available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Children: Maintenance

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what income the (a) Child Maintenance Service and (b) Child Support Agency received from telephone calls to its hotlines in each year since 2010.

Steve Webb: No income has been received by either the Child Maintenance Service or the Child Support Agency from telephone calls to its hotlines since 2010.

Children: Maintenance

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of cases involving parents who did not give the right information to the Child Maintenance Service or Child Support Agency were (a) successfully taken to court and (b) received the maximum fine in the last five years.

Steve Webb: For cases administered by the Child Support Agency, information is only available on the number of cases where action was taken for misrepresentation of evidence, which is provided in the table below. Information is not available on the overall number of cases referred to court or the value of the fine imposed. YearNumber of cases where action taken for misrepresentation of evidenceApril 2009 – March 201030April 2010 – March 201140April 2011 – March 201255April 2012 – March 201360April 2013 – March 201415  The 2012 child maintenance scheme, administered by the Child Maintenance Service, was opened to all new applicants on 25 November 2013. We are not yet in a position to release full statistics, therefore we are unable to provide you with the information requested. When system data becomes available and fully assured they will be released as part of a managed process, which will be pre-announced and in line with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics. Note: 1. Figures rounded to nearest 5.

Children: Maintenance

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many cases the Child Maintenance Service or Child Support Agency has dealt with of either parent changing their circumstances more than 10 times in 18 months in the last five years.

Steve Webb: The information is not available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Access to Work Programme

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department has taken to increase the number of people with mental health problems who are supported by the Access to Work scheme.

Mr Mark Harper: The number of people who have been helped by Access to Work whose primary medical condition is a Mental Health Condition, have increased year on year from 200 (0.7% of all people helped by Access to Work) in 2007/08, to 1,410 (4.0% of all people helped by Access to Work) in 2013/14The scheme is now supporting over 35,000 disabled people including people with mental health conditions, either through the bespoke Mental Health Support Service (MHSS) or the main Access to Work scheme.On June 10 2014, the then Minister of State for Disabled People committed to look at Access to Work, focusing on how we can support more disabled people and further improve the service. The MHSS will be considered within this review.

Pension Protection Fund

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when he will implement the increase in the Pension Protection Fund compensation cap.

Steve Webb: Before the relevant sections in the Pensions Act 2014 can be brought into force, I will have to lay before Parliament a number of proposed amendments to secondary regulations which need to be drafted and will be subject to consultation. The date these changes can come into force will be a matter for Parliament.

Access to Work Programme

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans his Department has to improve the Access to Work scheme for people with mental health problems (a) overall and (b) for work interviews; and what plans his Department has to guarantee equal access to the scheme for people with mental and physical health problems.

Mr Mark Harper: Access to Work now supports over 35,000 disabled people with support in work, including people with mental health conditions, either through the bespoke Mental Health Support Service (MHSS) or the main Access to Work scheme. Access to Work and the MHSS is a demand led scheme, open to all disabled people who are in paid employment, self-employed or participating in a Jobcentre Plus agreed Work Trial, irrespective of their disability. The largest increase in numbers of people being supported through Access to Work are those who have listed a mental health condition as their primary disability, with 910 people supported in 2012/13 and 1410 in 2013/14. Specifically regarding interview support, Access to Work offers a wide range of support for customers including those people with mental health conditions. For example, communication support should a person feel unable to communicate effectively. The primary route for accessing the Access to Work programme is by telephone; should a person be unable to communicate using the telephone because of mental health problems, they can use the alternative e-mail address or ask for a third party to act on their behalf to allow equal access. There are no reported difficulties with access to our services from people with a mental health condition.

Children: Maintenance

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many individual change of circumstances the Child Maintenance Service or Child Support Agency has processed in each year since 2010.

Steve Webb: For cases administered by the Child Support Agency, information on the number of individual change of circumstances output, is only readily available from November 2010. Information broken down by financial year from April 2011 is provided in the table below.YearNumber of change of circumstance outputsApril 2011 – March 20122,930,868April 2012 – March 20133,204,127April 2013 – March 20142,948,445Note:The information is provided for GB cases onlyThe 2012 child maintenance scheme, administered by the Child Maintenance Service, was opened to all new applicants on 25 November 2013. We are not yet in a position to release full statistics, therefore we are unable to provide you with the information requested. When system data becomes available and fully assured they will be released as part of a managed process, which will be pre-announced and in line with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics.

Personal Independence Payment

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the letter dated 15 July 2014 from the then Minister of State for Disabled People to the hon. Member for Stockton North, ref. POS(5) 10214/92, if the Minister of State for Disabled People will uphold his predecessor's personal commitment to ensuring that personal independence payment claims for people who are terminally ill will be assessed within seven days where possible; and what the timeframe is for achieving this target.

Mr Mark Harper: We are already starting to see waiting times for special rules claims for terminally ill people reduce towards our expected level with indications that processing times are currently down to around 10 days. We will continue to identify further opportunities to streamline the process.

Housing Benefit

Mr David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many appeals have been made against the application of the shared accommodation rate; and how many of those appeals have been successful.

Steve Webb: DWP does not hold this information.

Members: Correspondence

Mr Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when he plans to reply to the letter of 8 September 2014 from the hon. Member for Harrow West about Mr Ashok Pandya of Harrow.

Mr Mark Harper: My hon. Friend the Minister for Disabled People, Mark Harper, wrote to the hon. Member on 3 October 2014.

Housing Benefit

Mr David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many (a) male and (b) female claimants of each cohort have had the shared accommodation rate rule applied to their claim since its introduction.

Steve Webb: The information is not available in the format requested. The information which is available is point in time monthly caseload information on the shared accommodation rate from December 2012 onwards which can be found at:https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.ukGuidance on how to extract the information required can be found at:https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Stat-Xplore_User_Guide.htm

Housing Benefit

Mr David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many claimants who have had the shared accommodation rate applied to their claim have subsequently moved home; and whether his Department has commissioned research to find out their eventual destinations.

Steve Webb: The information requested is not available. The Department commissioned an independent evaluation of the changes to Local Housing Allowance, including the extension of the shared accommodation rate, by a research consortium from the Centre for Regional and Social Research (CRESR) at Sheffield Hallam University, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), the Blavatnik School of Government at the University of Oxford and Ipsos Mori. The final reports were published in July 2014 at the following weblink:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/local-housing-allowance-monitoring-the-impact-of-changes

Housing Benefit

Mr David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what representations he has received on the effect of the shared accommodation rate on (a) pregnant women, (b) those fleeing domestic violence, and (c) other vulnerable people; and what research he has commissioned on those issues.

Steve Webb: There have been a number of representations about the extension of the age threshold for the Shared Accommodation Rate and the effect of the change on certain groups of people. However, the cost of identifying which representations were about the specific groups quoted since January 2012 would be disproportionate.Whilst there is no research planned by DWP to look at the impact on the groups of people mentioned, the Department commissioned an independent evaluation of the changes to Local Housing Allowance, including the extension of the shared accommodation rate. The final reports were published in July 2014 and are available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/local-housing-allowance-monitoring-the-impact-of-changes

Social Security Benefits: Disability

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average time taken to process new claims for (a) employment support allowance and (b) personal independent payment has been since the introduction of those payments.

Mr Mark Harper: Official statistics for Employment and Support Allowance processing times are not readily available and to provide this information would incur disproportionate cost.Statistics on the time taken to process Personal Independence Payment cases are intended for future publication. The Department's analysts are currently considering what information will be included in the release. The release will be pre-announced in line with UK Statistics Authority protocols.

Housing Benefit

Mr David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of local housing allowance claimants receive discretionary housing payments; what proportion of such claimants on the shared accommodation rate receive discretionary housing payments; and how many such shared accommodation rate claimants who were (a) female, (b) male and (c) persons aged over 25 years receive discretionary housing payments.

Steve Webb: This information is not available.

Employment and Support Allowance

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to reduce processing times for employment and support allowance.

Mr Mark Harper: We are committed to completing Employment and Support Allowance Work Capability Assessments (WCAs) as quickly as possible and are working closely with our supplier to deliver the best possible service for claimants.We will be bringing in a new national provider to deliver health and disability assessments including WCAs. The new contract will be awarded later this year, with a view to the new provider taking responsibility for delivery of WCAs by early 2015.We have in addition taken measures to reduce the time taken between an ESA claim being made and referred to our supplier for a WCA, and the time between our receiving the case back and making a decision on the claim.

Housing Benefit

Mr David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if his Department will provide longer-term discretionary housing payments to those affected by the extension of the shared accommodation rate who have not found suitable alternative accommodation to help with their housing costs.

Steve Webb: The start and end dates of a discretionary housing payment are decided by local authorities on a case by case basis. The Government has allocated extra funding in 2014/15 to give local authorities the confidence to make long-term awards in any cases where they consider this is appropriate.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Agriculture: Bureaucracy

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many of the Macdonald Review's recommendations for regulation reduction have been implemented to date.

George Eustice: In its final report published on 9 April, the independent Farming Regulation Task Force noted that Defra had made “significant” progress against the 137 commitments made by the Government in 2012. Building on these commitments, Defra has also announced through the Red Tape Challenge programme its intention to simplify agricultural regulation by scrapping 156 regulations and improving 134 others. Work is also underway to identify further opportunities to reduce the burden on compliant farmers, including through improving risk based targeted farm inspections. I expect the majority of this work to be completed by the end of this year, with implementation proposals for consideration by Ministers.

Mangoes: India

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions her Department has had with EU institutions on the ban on the import of mangoes from India.

Dan Rogerson: Lord de Mauley discussed the ban on the import of mangoes from India with Commissioner Borg in the margins of the Environment Council on 22 June. On 24 and 25 June, the Defra Deputy Director for Plant Health and Chief Plant Health Officer discussed the issue with senior Commission officials.

Mangoes: India

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent steps her Department has taken to help UK businesses adversely affected by the ban on the import of mangoes from India.

Dan Rogerson: Since the ban was introduced, Defra officials and Lord de Mauley have had several discussions with UK trade representatives about the implications of the ban. The most recent meeting was on 22 July, when Lord de Mauley met with representatives of the National Asian Business Association, the Fresh Produce Consortium and other trade representatives together with the Indian High Commission. This focused on the importance of India demonstrating improvements in its phytosanitary export system to the European Union’s Food and Veterinary Office audit in September and what assistance could be provided to the Indian authorities.  The need for direct assistance to UK businesses has not been raised. However, the UK Government is making efforts to facilitate the resumption of trading in this highly valued product. For example, an Inspector from our Food and Environment Research Agency went to Mumbai to deliver a three day training event between 19 and 21 August. The training was aimed at exporters and government inspectors and was attended by nearly 200 delegates.

Mangoes: India

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent steps her Department has taken to reverse the EU ban on import of mangoes from India.

Dan Rogerson: The lifting of the ban on the import of mangoes from India is a decision for the EU’s Standing Committee for Plant Health. This will be considered once India has demonstrated that it can meet European Union (EU) import requirements which are designed to prevent the introduction of plant pests. The EU’s Food and Veterinary Office was due to carry out a further audit of India’s phytosanitary export system between 2 and 12 September. The results of this audit will be published later in the year and the Standing Committee will then consider whether it is appropriate to lift the ban.   To help the Indian authorities ensure that future exports consistently comply with the EU’s requirements, Defra’s Food and Environment Research Agency delivered training to exporters and government inspectors in Mumbai in August.

Rivers: Phosphates

Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what guidance her Department provides on the determination of allowable increases in phosphate pollution levels in English rivers.

Dan Rogerson: In July Defra published updated Ministerial guidance to the Environment Agency to assist it in carrying out its river basin planning functions under the Water Framework Directive. This includes guidance on environmental standards such as phosphates standards.   Current phosphate standards are set out in Directions to the Environment Agency and will apply to the end of the current six-year planning cycle in 2015.   Updated standards for phosphate will apply for the next six-year river basin planning cycle. This follows a review and consultation by the UK Water Framework Directive Technical Advisory Group. The new standards will be reflected in revised Directions to the Agency.   These standards define the levels of phosphorus required in order to achieve good ecological status and are used by the Environment Agency in setting objectives for rivers.

Incinerators: Taxation

Mrs Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make an assessment of the likelihood of nations to which the UK exports for incineration introducing similar measures to the Dutch government's planned incineration tax.

Dan Rogerson: Defra has no current plans to assess the likelihood of nations, to which the UK exports for incineration, introducing similar measures to the Dutch government’s planned incineration tax.   Earlier this year we held a call for evidence on the Refuse Derived Fuel market in England, including the effect that exports had on its availability on the domestic market. We are currently analysing the evidence submitted.

Fish Products: Russia

Ms Margaret Ritchie: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential effect of Russia's ban on EU fish products on the pelagic industry in Northern Ireland.

George Eustice: Official data shows that there were no exports of fish and fish products from Northern Ireland to the Russian Federation in the whole of 2013, or the first quarter of 2014. Direct impacts from the Russian ban are therefore likely to be limited. There are concerns, however, that the loss of the Russian market, combined with an increase in quota for mackerel this year, is leading to a reduction in prices received by fishermen. We are working with industry, the Devolved Administrations and the European Commission on a number of measures to mitigate any negative impacts.

Common Fisheries Policy

Mr Geoffrey Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will seek a derogation from the proposed prohibition on driftnet fisheries, amending Council Regulations (EC) No. 850/98, (EC) No. 812/2004, (EC) No. 2187/2005 and (EC) No. 1967/2006 and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No. 894/97 for the purpose of preventing the elimination of local inshore herring fishery in northern Devon.

George Eustice: The Government opposes the European Commission’s proposal for a prohibition on driftnet fisheries, which is not consistent with the new regional fisheries management approach under the reformed Common Fisheries Policy. We strongly support the continuation of sustainable driftnet fisheries such as the herring fishery in northern Devon. I recently wrote to the Fisheries Commissioner to highlight our concerns and we will continue to seek other opportunities to do so.

Rabbits: Diseases

Sir Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the incidence of myxomatosis in Britain; what change there has been in such levels in the last five years; and if she will make a statement.

George Eustice: Myxomatosis is not a notifiable disease. The Government has not, therefore, made any assessments of its incidence recently or in the last five years.

Bovine Tuberculosis: South West

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the second year of the pilot badger culls in Gloucestershire and Somerset is intended to test the safety, humaneness and effectiveness of freeshooting as a culling method.

George Eustice: Defra’s approach to the monitoring of humaneness and effectiveness in the second year of culling is set out here: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/347534/badger-cull-monitoring-2014.pdfSafety requirements for Contractors carrying out controlled shooting are set out in the Best Practice Guidance: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/347541/badger-cull-controlled-shooting-guidance-2014.pdf and Natural England are carrying out compliance monitoring.

Fracking

Tessa Munt: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what data her Department holds on the number of areas in the US in which it has been confirmed that water supplies have been contaminated by hydraulic fracturing.

Dan Rogerson: Defra does not hold this data. In England we have robust regulations in place to prevent contamination of water supplies. The Environment Agency will ensure that no hydraulic fracturing will be permitted where groundwater and drinking water supplies could be affected.

Bovine Tuberculosis: South West

Mrs Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the time period for the badger cull in Gloucestershire and Somerset will be extended if the minimum number of badgers is not killed.

George Eustice: Any decision on whether or not to extend either cull beyond six weeks would be taken by Natural England as the licensing authority.

Bovine Tuberculosis: South West

Mrs Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate she has made of the number of badgers in Somerset and Gloucester for the second year of the culls; and when those estimates were made.

George Eustice: Estimating wildlife populations is uncertain but the latest estimates have been set using the best available evidence, including information gathered on the ground by experts and signed off by Defra’s Chief Scientist. A minimum of 316 culled badgers in Somerset and 615 in Gloucestershire has been set for this year’s culls. Further information is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/347536/badger-cull-setting-min-max-numbers-2014.pdf. These estimates were published on 26 August 2014.

Bovine Tuberculosis

Mrs Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she has taken to ensure that the second year of the cull will achieve the aims of Government policy on bovine TB.

George Eustice: Ahead of the second year of culling, we have made a number of improvements, including improved training and equipment for all contractors as well as updated best practice guidance to ensure that the second year of the culls is as effective as possible.

Bovine Tuberculosis: South West

Mrs Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which statutory authority has responsibility for ensuring public safety during the badger culls in Gloucestershire and Somerset.

George Eustice: All those involved in carrying out this year’s culls have a responsibility for ensuring that the operation is carried out safely. Safety requirements for contractors are set out in the Best Practice Guidance at https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/347541/badger-cull-controlled-shooting-guidance-2014.pdf and compliance will be monitored by Natural England. Local police forces are fully involved in the planning and coordination of culling operations to ensure public safety is not compromised.

Wildlife: Smuggling

Mr John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress her Department has made on implementing the agreed action from the London Summit on International Wildlife.

George Eustice: Defra is working closely with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Department for International Development, the Home Office and other parts of Government to ensure the UK is playing a major role in helping to tackle the scourge of the illegal wildlife trade and in implementing the commitments made at the London Conference. Actions are taking place in four main areas: eradicating the market for illegal wildlife products; ensuring effective legal frameworks and deterrents; strengthening law enforcement; and supporting sustainable livelihoods and economic development. In particular, Defra is: continuing to work with our international partners in governments and international organisations to ensure that the illegal wildlife trade has the high level political attention it deserves in all relevant international fora, including at the United Nations Environment Assembly in June and during the UN General Assembly taking place in New York; delivering £10 million of funding (over this and next three financial years) to support implementation of London Declaration commitments. Support for five Illegal Wildlife Trade projects submitted under the Darwin Initiative was announced in March with a total value of £1.3 million. Further projects will be supported through the Illegal Wildlife Trade Challenge Fund, on which we expect to announce successful projects later in the autumn; supporting the Elephant Protection Initiative (launched at the London Conference by five African states) with a commitment to match the first tranche of private funding amounting to around £1 million; playing a leading role in Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). Following the July meeting of the CITES Standing Committee in Geneva, the UK has remained in the chair of the Rhino Working Group, which develops recommendations to hold the international community to account for delivery on its commitments; planning to commission new research into the international impacts of the illegal wildlife trade and on reducing consumer demand in Asia. We will co-ordinate closely with the key international organisations actively involved in the issue; and providing logistical and organisational support to the Government of Botswana. This includes providing the Secretariat for a Senior Officials Group, comprising representatives from countries and international organisations, to help ensure the success of the follow-on conference. The UK will also be making a financial contribution to the costs of the Conference.

Fisheries: EU Grants and Loans

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, for what reason seafood manufacturers are precluded from applying for regional structural aid; and for what alternative funding they can apply.

George Eustice: Seafood manufacturers are precluded from applying for regional structural aid through the provisions set out in the European Commission’s state aid rules for the fisheries sector which apply to businesses involved in the processing of fish and fisheries products, as well as to the catching sector. The Commission views this as necessary to avoid distortion of the market and to ensure consistency with the objectives of the European Union’s Common Fisheries Policy. However, support is available to small and medium-sized seafood manufacturers via the European Fisheries Fund, and its successor, the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund.Any application for alternative funding would need to be considered on a case-by-case basis subject to the specific request.

Incinerators: Taxation

Mrs Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with the Dutch government about its planned incineration tax.

Dan Rogerson: There have been no discussions with the Dutch government about its planned incineration tax.

Horse Meat

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when the Government plans to publish the report of the inquiry into the wrongful selling of horsemeat; and what the reasons are for the time taken to publish that report.

George Eustice: Following the horsemeat fraud incident the Government commissioned Professor Chris Elliott, of Queen’s University Belfast, to carry out an independent review into the Integrity and Assurance of Food Supply Networks. This was not an inquiry into the horsemeat fraud itself but a much wider review of the issues which impact on consumer confidence in the authenticity of their food.Professor Elliott’s Review was published on 4 September 2014 and sets out a systems approach to improve the food supply chain. The integrity of our food and empowering consumers to make informed choices are central to this Government’s vision of a competitive, resilient and growing UK food and farming sector. This is an important issue and it is only right that upon her appointment on 15 July 2014 the Secretary of State gave Professor Elliott’s final report the time and consideration it deserved before its publication. The report was published when Parliament returned after recess.

Fishing Catches

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans she has for implementation of the EU ban on fish discards; and what representations she has received on the sale or disposal of fish discarded before that ban comes into effect.

George Eustice: The UK secured a landing obligation as part of the reformed Common Fisheries Policy which entered into force on the 1 January 2014. The landing obligation comes into force in a phased timetable starting with pelagic fisheries on 1 January 2015 and extending to other fisheries from 2016.Detailed preparatory work is underway with the fishing industry, European Union Member States and other stakeholders about how we can best implement these changes in practice. This includes supporting the industry in reducing discards ahead of the discard ban coming into effect, including through our successful catch quota scheme.

Agriculture: Research

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much her Department spent on agricultural research in each year from 1997-98 to 2009-10.

George Eustice: Defra and MAFF spent a total of £925M* on agricultural research between 1997/98 and 2009/10.  Financial yearFarming Research (£M)Animal Health and Welfare Research (£M)Total agricultural research (excluding food, agri-environment, soils, plant health, pesticide safety) (£M)1997/19984627731998/19994430741999/20004234762000/20014134752001/20023938772002/20033739762003/20043938772004/20053839762005/20063638742006/20073039692007/20082637632008/20092334572009/2010273259TOTAL467458925 * Source: Omnicom (Defra science database). Figures exclude research on food (post farm gate), biodiversity conservation through agri-environment schemes, plant health and pesticide safety.

Ash Dieback Disease

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate she has made of the (a) geographical spread and (b) effect of ash dieback disease.

Dan Rogerson: Surveillance and monitoring is carried out across the UK to provide intelligence on the rate of spread for Chalara and to help determine the extent of the disease. This work will continue on new infected sites and, in consultation with interested parties, the Government will consider what future surveillance work is needed.Epidemiological modelling on the basis of current evidence suggests that the pathogen is likely to continue to spread in Great Britain, although there is likely to be noticeable regional variation, with areas in the south east, east and south west most affected. These predictions will need to be updated as additional information from ongoing research becomes available. The distribution of confirmed findings is published weekly by the Forestry Commission on its website and shows the precise coverage so far. I attach the latest map here but further updates can be found by using the following link.http://www.forestry.gov.uk/chalara#DistributionThe impact of Chalara infection depends on tree age, provenance or genotype, location, weather and microclimate conditions, and presence of honey fungus (Armillaria) or opportunistic secondary pathogens. Trees in forests are likely to be more affected because of the greater prevalence of honey fungus and favourable microclimates for spore production and infection. Trees cannot recover from infection, but larger trees can survive infection for a considerable time and some might not die.



Chalera Fraxinia Outbreaks Map
(PDF Document, 2.03 MB)

Ash Dieback Disease

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate she has made of how many and what proportion of ash trees are likely to die from ash dieback disease.

Dan Rogerson: Defra and the Forestry Commission do not record or make estimates of numbers of individual tree deaths. Chalara has infected many species of ash worldwide, with differing levels of intensity. Trees cannot recover once infected, although larger ash trees can survive infection for a considerable period of time.Epidemiological modelling on the basis of current evidence suggests that the pathogen is likely to continue to spread in Great Britain, although there is likely to be noticeable regional variation, with areas in the south east, east and south west most affected. These predictions will need to be updated as additional information from ongoing research becomes available.

Animals and Plants: Diseases

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will publish Sir Mark Walport's study on the UK's future needs for capability in animal and plant health.

George Eustice: Defra and the Government Office for Science will be publishing Sir Mark Walport’s study entitled ‘Animal & Plant Health in the UK: An Assessment of Future Science Capability’ in due course.

Ash Dieback Disease

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the ecological effect of ash dieback disease on the countryside.

Dan Rogerson: Research by Natural England and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee has identified that 1,058 species have all or part of their lifecycle associated with ash woodlands in the UK, for example as a habitat, food source or hunting ground. Of these only 45 are exclusively recorded on ash, with a further 62 highly associated but also recorded on other species. No single tree species will be able to fill the niche provided by ash trees in terms of both its ecosystem characteristics and biodiversity contribution. The most appropriate strategy for managing the biodiversity impacts of ash dieback will vary from site to site.

Ash Dieback Disease

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress her Department has made in identifying ash trees with resistance to ash dieback disease; and if she will make a statement.

Dan Rogerson: Research is being undertaken to produce genetic maps of the pathogen and of ash trees to allow identification and breeding of resistant or tolerant ash trees and, where appropriate, improve detection techniques.Ash saplings have been planted in areas with a high risk of infection to identify trees with resistance or tolerance to the disease. Ash seeds have been collected from a number of locations across the UK to be used in future screening and breeding programmes.Standardised techniques for producing infection in the laboratory are being developed. This will allow disease development to be assessed under controlled conditions. This will be essential for identifying genetic markers for host resistance for use in breeding programmes.

Department for Communities and Local Government

EU Law

Mr John Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many new EU directives and regulations have been transposed into UK law by his Department since May 2010.

Kris Hopkins: The Recast of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive came into force on 19 May 2010, with a transposition date of 9 January 2013.The Departmental portfolio includes EU Regulations that do not require transposition such as the EU Construction Products Regulation which was adopted in March 2011 and came fully into force in July 2013 and the European Structural and Investment Funds Regulations.It is the Department's policy under this Government to avoid and reverse the gold-plating of EU directives by the Labour Government; for example, we have done this on the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive by scaling back the rules on Energy Performance Certificates to the minimum requirements of the directive and scrapping Home Information Packs.We also wish to renegotiate powers back to the United Kingdom where appropriate; as a small but pertinent example, my Department has successfully removed the legal requirement in the European Regional Development Fund Regulations (introduced in 2006 under the Labour Government) to fly the EU flag outside our building for one week a year after Europe Day.

Community Relations: Religion

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to his contribution of 8 September 2014, Official Report, column 649, which groups funded by his Department are working in (a) mosques, (b) churches and (c) synagogues.

Stephen Williams: This Department does not fund any single-faith groups. Our approach is to fund projects that bring people of different faiths and backgrounds together, a policy we feel that helps integrate people better and build stronger communities. Examples of our integration projects include Near Neighbours and Together in Service. These two programmes work with both places of worship and secular venues to encourage interfaith collaboration. Near Neighbours is designed to bring people together in religiously and ethnically diverse communities, by helping to create multi-faith events that encourage social interaction; whilst Together in Service celebrates social action projects based around each of the faith communities’ religious festivals or volunteering days, designed to inspire new work around multi-faith volunteering projects. Not all projects under the Near Neighbours programme work from or with a place of worship. However, there are examples that do. Phase one witnessed funding being used to establish a local Jewish-Christian Forum in Stamford Hill, London; whilst under Phase 2, following an arson attack by the English Defence League on their centre, the Somali Bravanese Welfare Association in London was welcomed by a local synagogue to celebrate Eid together. 400 people gathered to celebrate. Again, with Together in Service, not all projects work from or with a place of worship. However, there are examples that do. Under the Department’s Together in Service programme, St Paul’s Church in Birmingham is tackling community cohesion and integration through advice and support for various faith groups, whilst Trinity at Bowes Methodist Church and Community Centre aims to build better connections between different faith communities in their local area through a series of activities in order to prevent people becoming isolated.

Departmental Responsibilities

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, which (a) projects and (b) groups are funded through his Department's Community Rights, Integration and Big Society programme.

Stephen Williams: The Department for Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Private Rented Housing: Codes of Practice

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 10 July 2014, Official Report, column 407W, on housing, what plans his Department has to disseminate the code of practice for the management of residential property to (a) people who manage residential property and (b) tenants.

Brandon Lewis: Seventeen industry bodies, covering the majority of the sector, have already agreed to abide by the code of practice. The code not only explains what is legally required when letting and managing property in the private sector, but also provides a model for best practice. Members of any organisations which have signed up to this code agree to abide by its contents, giving tenants assurance of a good service, driving up standards in the sector. We expect those who have signed up to the code to promote it with their members and customers but this will be supported by my Department for example through a link in the How to Rent Guide, ensuring that it is used as a measure of good practice by the three approved redress schemes and references to the code in regular communication activities.

Private Rented Housing: Codes of Practice

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 10 July 2014, Official Report, column 407W, on housing, whether his Department asked the industry to seek the views of tenants in creating a code of practice for the management of residential property and the process of letting.

Brandon Lewis: Yes, my Department asked the industry to seek the views of tenants in creating the code of practice for the letting and management of residential property by liaising with tenant groups. This was something that they were happy to do.

Public Expenditure

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to Annex A of his Department's Explanatory Memorandum to the Main Estimate 2013-14, how much of the money allocated for Community Rights, Integration and Big Society was allocated to (a) community rights, (b) integration and (c) the Big Society in (i) 2012-13, (ii) 2013-14 and (iii) 2014-15.

Stephen Williams: The Department for Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Social Services

Pat Glass: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what recent discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues about naming social care providers who do not pay their employees the national minimum wage.

Pat Glass: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what representations he has received about the ethical care charter initiated by UNISON.

Pat Glass: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what recent discussions he has had with local authorities about commissioning social care providers who are compliant with the national minimum wage.

Pat Glass: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what guidance his Department provides to local authorities on ensuring they do not commission home care services from organisations which are not compliant with national minimum wage legislation.

Pat Glass: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, which local authorities have commissioned home care providers which are non-compliant with the national minimum wage legislation.

Pat Glass: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what representations his Department has received on the effect of non-payment of the national minimum wage in the social care sector on care standards.

Pat Glass: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what discussions he has had with HM Revenue and Customs about launching proactive investigations into the non-payment of the national minimum wage in the home care sector.

Kris Hopkins: The Department of Health is responsible for policy on care and support, including the commissioning of social care services by local authorities. The commissioning of social care is a matter for individual local authorities. The Care Quality Commission, as regulator of health and adult social care services, regulates social care providers to ensure services comply with essential standards of safety and quality. My Department has not issued any guidance to local authorities about compliance with the National Minimum Wage by social care providers.HM Revenue and Customs has recently carried out an evaluation of compliance with the National Minimum Wage in the social care sector. This was published on 29 November 2013 and a copy has been placed in the Library of the House.

HM Treasury

Revenue and Customs

David Wright: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many HM Revenue and Customs staff in each (a) grade and (b) pay band were loaned to the UK Border Agency on 10 July 2014 to cover staffing shortfalls.

Mr David Gauke: The UKBA was closed in March 2013.

Financial Action Task Force

Mr Andrew Smith: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the Government supported the recent invitation from the Financial Action Task Force for Israel to become a member of that body.

Andrea Leadsom: The Government supported the extension of membership of the Financial Action Task Force to all the countries invited to join FATF, including Israel, after it was determined that they met the membership criteria. There is now a process to determine the readiness of those countries that met the membership criteria. The membership policy can be found here: http://www.fatf-gafi.org/pages/aboutus/membersandobservers/fatfmembershippolicy.html

Families

Lucy Powell: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Prime Minister's speech of 15 August 2011 calling for a family test to be applied to all domestic policy, which policies of his Department have been so assessed to date.

Priti Patel: I refer the honourable member to the answer given today by the Minister of State for Pensions (Rt hon Steve Webb MP). http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-questions-answers/?page=1&max=20&questiontype=AllQuestions&house=commons&uin=208864

Infrastructure

Richard Burden: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what proportion of Gross Domestic Product the Government spent on nationally significant infrastructure projects in each year since 1997.

Danny Alexander: The Government do not publish outturn or forecast data for expenditure on infrastructure projects as a proportion of Gross Domestic Product. The Office for Budget Responsibility publishes historical data on public sector gross investment (PSGI) as a percentage of GDP— this can be accessed at the following address; http://budgetresponsibility.org.uk/pubs/PSF_aggregates_databank_Aug_2014.xls  Further information on infrastructure investment can be found in the National Infrastructure Plan 2013, which is available on the Infrastructure UK website.

Public Sector Debt: UN Resolutions

Andrew Gwynne: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, for what reasons the Government voted against United Nations General Assembly UN Resolution A/68/L.57/Rev.1 Towards the establishment of a multilateral legal framework for sovereign debt restructuring process; and whether the Government plans to engage in discussions on establishing a legal framework for sovereign debt restructuring processes at the UN.

Mr Andrew Smith: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, why the UK voted against United Nations General Assembly Resolution A/68/L.57/Rev.1 Towards the establishment of a multilateral legal framework for sovereign debt restructuring processes.

Andrea Leadsom: The Government is actively engaged in ongoing discussions in a number of international fora, to reform the framework for sovereign debt restructurings. As outlined in the joint-EU Explanation of Vote on this Resolution, the Government was not in a position to support this UN resolution given concerns over the lack of time afforded to members to discuss the complex issues it raised.

Public Sector: Pay

Mr David Amess: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will give guidance to public bodies on the pay of chief executives.

Danny Alexander: Pay restraint has played a vital role in reducing the fiscal deficit. It is important for senior public sector workers including chief executives to show leadership in this area. For Senior Civil Servants pay should be within nationally determined pay scales which are recommended by the independent Senior Salaries Review body. Pay for chief executives outside the Civil Service is decided by individual departments and employers.  For both departments and public bodies, any salaries above £142,500 must be approved by the Chief Secretary to the Treasury. All public bodies have a responsibility for ensuring value for money for the taxpayer, including over decisions on relating to individuals pay.

Equitable Life Assurance Society: Compensation

Stephen Metcalfe: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, when all Equitable Life policyholders and annuitants will be compensated for their full relative loss.

Andrea Leadsom: Eligible annuitants continue to receive their full Relative Loss. There are no plans to increase the levels of funding available to the Equitable Life Payment Scheme.

Money Laundering

Richard Burden: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will take steps to ensure that the list of regulated markets subject to specified disclosure obligations in the Joint Money Laundering Steering Group's guidance on the Money Laundering Regulations 2007 does not pose a barrier to inward investment in the UK.

Andrea Leadsom: The Joint Money Laundering Steering Group keeps its guidance under regular review.  The government will continue to ensure that this system does not create a barrier to inward investment, while ensuring that appropriate customer due diligence checks are applied.

Multinational Companies: Taxation

Austin Mitchell: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what requirement there is for EU member states to exchange information on tax agreements between them and international companies.

Mr David Gauke: A Member State should exchange information about a tax agreement it has made with an international company when the Member State considers that the tax agreement may result in a loss of tax in another Member State. This requirement is set out in the EU Council Directive 2011/16/EU on administrative cooperation in the field of taxation. There is no legal basis to exchange information where a Member State reaches a legal agreement with an international company on a purely domestic matter that could never directly affect the tax base of another Member State.

Revenue and Customs

Paul Uppal: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps HM Revenue and Customs has taken to improve online customer service in the last 12 months.

Mr David Gauke: HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) published its Digital Strategy in December 2012 to deliver a transparent tax system enabled by customer-focused digital services which are straightforward and convenient to use. HMRC have subsequently begun to transform its products and services as part of the Government’s digital by default agenda.  HMRC is doing this through the development of Digital Exemplar services such as for Self Assessment and Pay As You Earn and recently the Tax Credits online renewal service which enabled more than 400,000 customers to renew their tax credits online this year.

Department for Energy and Climate Change

Pay

Mr Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what the (a) highest and (b) lowest full-time equivalent salary paid by (i) his Department and (ii) its public bodies was in (A) 2010-11, (B) 2011-12, (C) 2012-13, (D) 2013-14 and (E) 2014-15; and if he will make a statement.

Amber Rudd: In order to improve efficiency while remaining accountable to the UK taxpayer, as well as to satisfy the requirements of the right to public data, the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) regularly publishes information in the public domain on where and how money is spent:https://www.gov.uk/government/policies/improving-the-transparency-and-accountability-of-government-and-its-services/supporting-pages/releasing-data-in-open-formats.For example, www.data.gov.uk shows who does what in the Department and its public bodies and how much they are paid (6 monthly). Pay multiples are also included in the Annual Accounts and in line with the transparency agenda the Department discloses salaries at and above £150,000:http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20121205174605/http:/www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/accesstoinform/expenditure/expenditure.aspxhttp://reference.data.gov.uk/gov-structure/organogram/?dept=decc&post=1)However, in order for data to be used this way, it has to be released in a format which is compliant with Data Protection Act 1998 requirements.A breakdown of the data you have requested is enclosed in tables below:Table 1–DECCYear2010-112011-122012-132013-142014-15Highest Full-Time Equivalent£165,000 - £169,999£165,000 - £169,999£165,000 - £169,999£165,000 - £169,999£165,000 - £169,999Year2010-112011-122012-132013-142014-15Lowest Full-Time Equivalent17,184 17,534 17,710 18,419 18,604  Table 2 – DECC Public BodiesYear2010-112011-122012-132013-142014-15Highest Full-Time Equivalent£365,000 - £369,999£185,000 - 189,999£265,000 - £269,999£265,000 - £269,999£265,000 - £269,999Year2010-112011-122012-132013-142014-15Lowest Full-Time Equivalent£13,713£14,750£15,532£15,734£16,009

Solar Power

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what recent assessment his Department has made of the effects of solar farms on nearby wildlife.

Amber Rudd: Although DECC has not undertaken an assessment of the effects of solar farms on wildlife, analysis recently published by the National Solar Centre indicates that they can have a positive impact on biodiversity:www.bre.co.uk/filelibrary/pdf/Brochures/NSC-Biodiversity-Guidance.pdf.(The BRE National Solar Centre Biodiversity Guidance for Solar Developments)We are continuing to monitor this work.

Fossil Fuels: Russia

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how much oil and gas the UK purchased from the Russian Federation in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

Amber Rudd: The origin of natural gas imports are published on a monthly basis athttps://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/347812/et4_4.xls. The origins of oil imports are published on an annual basis athttps://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/338448/dukes3_9.xlsx.

Climate Change

David T. C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment he has made of (a) the implication for his Department's policies of the paper Quantifying the Consensus on Anthropogenic Global Warming in the Scientific Literature and (b) allegations of fraud in that paper.

Amber Rudd: The 2013, peer-reviewed paper Quantifying the Consensus on Anthropogenic Global Warming in the Scientific Literature analysed the abstracts of around 12,000 scientific papers and found that, of the third which expressed a view on the cause of global warming, 97% considered it to be man-made. We are not aware of any evidence of fraud relating to this paper.The main conclusion of the paper is consistent with findings from all other such studies, and as is evident from the recent Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, that there is an overwhelming scientific consensus that recent global warming is largely caused by human activity.

Energy: Northern Ireland

Naomi Long: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what discussions his Department has had with the Department for Enterprise, Trade and Investment in Northern Ireland about licence conditions on energy companies in Northern Ireland which prevent them offering fixed price deals to customers.

Amber Rudd: The regulation of gas and electricity supplies in Northern Ireland, including the setting of licence conditions, is a devolved matter and the responsibility of the Utility Regulator in Northern Ireland.

Climate Change

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether a Minister from his Department will be representing the Government at the UN Climate Summit 2014.

Amber Rudd: The Government strongly welcomed the UN Secretary General’s leadership in convening a Climate Summit in September in New York. It provided added momentum to international action on tackling climate change and showcased significant actions to address the issue. From the Department of Energy and Climate Change, I attended the Summit alongside my rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State.

Climate Change

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps the Government is taking to ensure progress on international climate change negotiations is made at the Lima conference of the parties.

Amber Rudd: If we are to meet the objective of the Convention and avoid dangerous climate change, it is imperative that we secure an international, legally binding agreement with mitigation commitments for all in Paris in December 2015. We want Lima to pave the way for countries to bring forward their mitigation contributions for the new agreement in early 2015, and to agree the draft elements of a negotiating text - these are important milestones for the 2015 agreement.In order to facilitate this, I have pressed our case at a number of international ministerial climate change meetings this year, as well as bilaterally with my counterparts in governments and with other key actors across the globe – including China, the US and India – at incoming and outgoing visits. I also attended the UN Secretary General’s climate summit in September; the first meeting of leaders focused solely on climate change since 2009.

Climate Change

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what recent discussions he has had with the Foreign Secretary on progress towards securing a global legally-binding treaty on carbon emissions reductions and international climate change.

Amber Rudd: I hold regular discussions with Ministerial counterparts, including my rt. hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary, on the UN climate negotiations. The Department, as Whitehall lead, is working closely with the Foreign Office and its global network of climate attaches, to support the Government’s aim of securing an international, legally binding agreement with mitigation commitments for all through the UN in Paris in December 2015.

Renewables Obligation

David T. C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what recent estimate he has made of the cost of the Renewables Obligation Scheme to energy consumers since 2002.

Amber Rudd: The total support costs associated with the Renewables Obligation (RO) since 2002 are set out in the table below.  £bn nominal prices2002/030.282003/040.422004/050.492005/060.582006/070.722007/080.882008/091.042009/101.122010/111.292011/121.462012/131.992013/142.60Source: DECC based on Ofgem publications. The impact of these support costs on actual energy bills depends on the total level of electricity sales, how energy suppliers pass these costs through to consumers, and the amounts of electricity consumed by individual consumers.Assuming that costs incurred by energy suppliers are passed on in full to all electricity consumers (including households and businesses), and on an equal £/MWh basis, analysis published in March 20131 suggests that, in 2013, the RO accounted, on average, for around 2% (or £30, in real 2012 prices) of an annual household energy (gas plus electricity) bill.Under the Electricity Market Reform, the RO will be closed to new capacity from 1st April 2017, and large scale renewable electricity will be supported through the new Contracts for Difference scheme.[1] https://www.gov.uk/policy-impacts-on-prices-and-bills

Biofuels

David T. C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how much subsidy has been given to (a) power generation by biomass in the UK and (b) domestic combustion of biomass in the UK in the last three years for which figures are available.

Amber Rudd: The Renewables Obligation is currently the main financial mechanism by which the Government incentivises the deployment of large-scale renewable electricity generation in the UK. The table below gives figures for the amount of support biomass projects received in the last 3 years for which data is available. These are in nominal prices: YearTotal Spend on Biomass Projects under Renewables Obligation (Nominal Prices)2013/14£713m2012/13£636m2011/12£489mSupport for small-scale (<5MW) renewables in Great Britain, including Anaerobic Digestion (AD), is also available under the Feed in Tariff (FIT) scheme. However, FIT spend data are not collected disaggregated by technology.Biomass technologies include: AD, biomass co-firing, biomass conversions, dedicated biomass, sewage gas, landfill gas and advanced conversion technologies. These include Combined Heat and Power (CHP) schemes.Total spend under the RO is calculated as the number of Renewable Obligation Certificates (ROCs) redeemed by suppliers for that RO year multiplied by the value of a ROC in that year. ROCs redeemed data can be found at: https://www.renewablesandchp.ofgem.gov.uk/Public/ReportManager.aspx?ReportVisibility=1&ReportCategory=0 (see ‘Compliance Certificates Reports’). The ROC value is calculated by the overall RO spend for that year divided by the total number of ROCs redeemed by suppliers. Overall RO spend is calculated by multiplying the obligation by the buy-out price, both of which can be found in each year’s RO annual report or obligation notice, available at: https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/environmental-programmes/renewables-obligation-roDomestic combustion of biomass in the UK is currently supported by the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI), but was previously covered by the Renewable Heat Premium Payment (RHPP) until April 2014. The table below gives figures for the amount of subsidy biomass boilers received in the last 3 years: YearTotal Spend on Biomass Boilers (Nominal Prices)2014£1.6m2013£1.5m2012£0.9m

Biofuels

David T. C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate he has made of the tonnage of carbon dioxide emitted by (a) the production processes, including drying, of biomass destined for UK power generation, (b) the transportation of biomass from all origins to power generation plants in the UK and (c) the transportation and disposal of fly ash arising from biomass combustion in the UK in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Amber Rudd: DECC’s Biomass Emissions And Counterfactual1 model has been developed to estimate overall greenhouse gas emissions associated with the delivered bioenergy to the UK from a number of regions for power generation, based on a scenario based life-cycle assessment technique. The overall estimates include carbon dioxide emitted by the production processes including drying and the transportation of biomass; details for selected scenarios are available in the report titled “Life Cycle Impacts of Biomass Electricity"2 published in July 2014.The UK is introducing new sustainability standards for biomass. From April 2015, biomass heat and power generators must achieve a minimum of 68% greenhouse gas saving compared to coal, which includes emissions from processing and transportation. In addition, power stations over 50MWth must monitor and report against maximum monthly average emission limits for particulates (including ash) they emit to air.[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/332948/beac_1.xlsm 2 https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/349024/BEAC_Report_290814.pdf

Energy: Conservation

Graham Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, if he will introduce a scheme aimed at bring every house in England up to a national minimum standard for energy efficiency.

Graham Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, if he will introduce a policy to bring homes in deprived local authority wards up to a national minimum standard for energy efficiency.

Graham Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, if he will introduce a scheme to bring pre-1919 housing stock up to a national standard of energy efficiency.

Amber Rudd: The Government has a target of improving the energy efficiency of 1 million homes by March 2015 and as of June we have improved over 750,000 homes through the Energy Company Obligation (ECO), Green Deal and other home energy efficiency incentives. We are also consulting on regulations to require more minimum energy performance standards in the private rented sector.In addition, we have laid draft Regulations to create a new fuel poverty target that seeks to ensure that as many fuel poor homes as is reasonably practicable achieve a minimum energy efficiency standard of Band C by 2030. We are also proposing that interim milestones of as many fuel poor homes as is reasonably practicable reach Band E by 2020 and Band D by 2025 be laid out in the forthcoming Fuel Poverty Strategy.

Families

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, with reference to the Prime Minister's speech of 15 August 2011 calling for a family test to be applied to all domestic policy, which policies of his Department have been so assessed to date.

Amber Rudd: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given today by my hon. Friend the Minister of State for Work and Pensions to Question Number 208864:http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-questions-answers/?page=1&max=20&questiontype=AllQuestions&house=commons&uin=208864

Offshore Industry

Mr Nicholas Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what his proposals are for maximising North Sea resources within the Infrastructure Bill.

Matthew Hancock: The Government is committed to the rapid implementation of Sir Ian Wood’s recommendations to maximise economic recovery from the UK Continental Shelf. Government has proposed a cIause in the Infrastructure Bill to establish the new principle of Maximising Economic Recovery of UK petroleum into law with an aim to secure and give rise to the maximum amount of economically recoverable petroleum from UK waters. The measure proposes a duty on my rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State to produce a strategy for allowing this principle to be met, and obligations on him and all Petroleum Licence holders, Operators appointed under those licences and the owners of Upstream Petroleum Infrastructure to act in accordance with that strategy. Government has also proposed a clause to provide a levy-making power to fund a larger, more proactive regulator (to be called the Oil and Gas Authority).Subsequent legislation will be required to implement the additional regulatory powers the Wood Review recommends and set up the new Authority.

Offshore Industry

Mr Nicholas Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment he has made of the ability of the UK fabrication industry to deliver UK Continental Shelf projects; and what capacity and capability constraints he has identified on that ability.

Matthew Hancock: A mapping exercise of the UK fabrication sector was recently undertaken and jointly funded between DECC and Oil and Gas UK. This report which contains comprehensive information on all major fabrication facilities in the UK has been distributed widely within the operator community in the UKCS and can be accessed at http://cld.bz/LEnmxPt.The concept of alliance contracting is currently being studied to evaluate whether larger processing decks currently deemed too large for individual yards could be divided into a number of modules within existing yard capability.

Offshore Industry

Mr Nicholas Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment he has made of the effect of EU competition regulations on the ability of the Government to actively support UK content in the UK Continental Shelf.

Matthew Hancock: The UK offshore oil and gas supply chain is among the best in the world, and the UK Government works closely with both licensees and the supply chain to ensure that there is clear visibility on both UK capability and the projects coming forward. To this end, DECC has published a study of the UK fabrication capability and also publicise all upcoming projects on the Pathfinder web tool.

Offshore Industry

Mr Nicholas Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment he has made of the feasibility of applying the alliance contracting concept to (a) the UK fabrication sector and (b) operators in the UK Continental Shelf.

Matthew Hancock: An assessment of the feasibility of applying the alliance contract concept is currently being undertaken and is at the early stages of the process.

Offshore Industry

Mr Nicholas Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps he plans to take to ensure UK Continental Shelf tendering processes are open, transparent and accountable.

Matthew Hancock: Government is working with Industry to ensure that companies with the capability and capacity are able to bid for forthcoming projects.DECC Pathfinder web tool provides an overview of new projects together with contact information, thus giving the wider supply chain visibility of new opportunities as they arise.

UK Coal

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, pursuant to the contribution of the Minister of State in his Department of 4 September 2014, Official Report, column 425, what recent progress he has made on the provision of a commercial loan to UK Coal; and if he will make a statement.

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, pursuant to his contribution of 4 September 2014, Official Report, column 425, on UK Coal, what assistance his Department has made available to UK Coal for the preparation of an application for state aid.

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, pursuant to his contribution of 4 September 2014, Official Report, column 411, on energy security, what his Department's policy is on the provision of state aid to UK Coal in respect of Thoresby and Kellingley coal mines.

Matthew Hancock: On Friday 26 September 2014 the Government agreed to provide a £4m loan to UK Coal as part of a package of support measures secured by the Company to avoid an imminent insolvency and closure of its Kellingley and Thoresby collieries. The loan has been made on commercial terms and is due to be fully repaid with interest by December 2015.The support package was requested by UK Coal to deliver its plan for the safe and orderly wind down of its deep mining businesses by the end of 2015. However the loan is structured to ensure that the door remains open for the Company to seek further private investment to prolong the life of the mines beyond this date. I have also made it clear that I remain open-minded about any plan which UK Coal may wish to put forward involving further public sector support provided that the plan represents acceptable value for money for the taxpayer. However, we must be aware that without further support from Government alone, without commercial partnership to extend the deep mining business beyond 2015 is likely to be regarded as state aid by the European Commission and therefore require the closure of the mines. Any case for further support would need to come from the Company, but DECC officials will be ready to help.

Energy Supply

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, pursuant to his contribution of 4 September 2014, Official Report, column 411, on energy security, what the evidential basis is for the statement that the possible closure of Thoresby and Kellingley coal mines would not affect UK energy security.

Matthew Hancock: Coal is a globally abundant resource with UK consumption of steam coal representing less than 1% of total global production and less than 5% of global trade1.In 2013, the Thoresby and Kellingley coal mines produced less than 5% of the total amount of coal consumed in the UK2. The package of measures announced by UK Coal on 26 September 2014, including the £4m loan from Government, is intended to enable production at these deep mines to continue until 2015 .Our efforts to decarbonise our electricity system, increase the diversity of the generation mix and reduce our reliance on unabated coal, also help to ensure secure electricity supplies.The independent US Chamber of Commerce rates Britain the most energy secure country in the EU and the fourth most energy secure in the world above the US, Japan and Canada amongst others3.[1] Based on company production returns to the Coal Authority in 2013 and estimates of world coal production and trade (2013 Edition of the IEA Coal Information, 2013 Edition of the BP Statistical Review of World Energy) 2 Based on company production returns to the Coal Authority in 2013 and estimates of UK coal consumption (DUKES, Chapter 2, 2013) 3 International Index of Energy Security Risk, 2013 Edition, US Chamber of Commerce

Climate Change: International Cooperation

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what proposals he plans to make at the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action (ADP) second session sixth part in Bonn in October 2014.

Amber Rudd: In Bonn, our departmental negotiators will be working towards a successful outcome at the Lima COP in December this year, where we want to: i) pave the way for countries to bring forward their post-2020 emissions reduction offers for the new agreement in early 2015, ii) agree the elements of the draft negotiating text for Paris, and iii) agree on the next steps on enhanced action to close the pre-2020 mitigation gap.

Office of Unconventional Gas and Oil

Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what the budget is for the Office of Unconventional Gas and Oil for each of the years 2014-15 to 2017-18.

Matthew Hancock: The 2014-15 budget for the Office of Unconventional Gas and Oil is currently £1.8m, which covers an office of 15 staff as well as programme funding for activities including research, communications and public engagement .Current plans for 15-16 are for £1.8m, but are subject to DECC’s internal business planning process. Future years will be subject to Spending Review discussions with the Treasury on DECC’s overall baseline.

Hydroelectric Power

Andrew Bingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how many (a) large scale, (b) small scale and (c) micro-scale hydroelectric schemes are in operation in (i) the High Peak, (ii) England and (iii) the UK.

Amber Rudd: The table below shows the number of hydroelectric schemes in the High Peak, England and UK, as at the end of 2012. Data as at the end of 2013 will be available on 25 September 2014. DECC does not distinguish between small and micro-scale hydro-electricity.  High PeakEnglandUKLarge-scale (>5 MW)0155Small-scale (>= 5 MW)6205614 England and UK total hydro figures in Renewable electricity in Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the regions of England in 2012, Energy Trends September 2013, available at:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/energy-trends-september-2013-special-feature-articles-renewable-electricity-in-scotland-wales-northern-ireland-and-the-regions-of-england-in-201

Hydroelectric Power

Andrew Bingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what proportion of the UK's (a) total and (b) renewable energy generating capacity is provided by hydroelectric power stations.

Amber Rudd: At the end of 2014 Q1, hydro-electricity represented 8.2 per cent of UK renewable electricity capacity, and 1.8 per cent of all generating capacity.Source:Hydro and renewable electricity capacity from table ET 6.1, available at:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/energy-trends-section-6-renewablesTotal generating capacity (end-2012) from table DUKES 5.12, available at:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/electricity-chapter-5-digest-of-united-kingdom-energy-statistics-dukes

Cabinet Office

Government Departments: Procurement

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to make it easier for small businesses to access the tendering process for government contracts.

Mr Francis Maude: To make it easier for small businesses to access the tendering process for government contracts, we have removed unnecessary bureaucracy such as pre-qualification questionnaires from low value central Government contracts. All central Government procurements over £10k must now be advertised on Contracts Finder, which has introduced unprecedented transparency to the range of opportunities available.In addition, the Government’s appointment of Crown Representatives for SMEs and voluntary bodies has ensured that the voice of both SMES and voluntary sector organisations is heard inside Whitehall.Our ‘Mystery Shopper’ scheme allows suppliers to report bad procurement practice, and we have published a series of “top tips” videos to help SMEs and voluntary organisations pitch for and win government contracts.Building on these reforms, we are now taking forward Lord Young’s recommendations to create an SME-friendly ‘single market’ for public procurement including through the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Bill.

Self-employed: Ashfield

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many people were self-employed in Ashfield constituency in each year since 2010.

Mr Rob Wilson: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply. 



ONS Letter to Member - Self-Employed
(PDF Document, 199.04 KB)

Official Secrets

John Mann: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether all requests for information on files covered by the Official Secrets Act 1989 receive a standard response or are considered on a case by case basis.

Mr Francis Maude: Neither HMG files nor information generally is classified under the Official Secrets Act; rather the Act creates an offence for the unauthorised disclosure of information that is defined as being damaging under it. All requests for information are considered under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act.

Average Earnings

Mr Nicholas Brown: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the average weekly earnings were for the (a) richest and (b) poorest five per cent of earners in each of the last five years (i) in real terms and (ii) as a proportion of all UK earnings.

Mr Rob Wilson: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply. 



ONS Letter to Member - Average Weekly Earnings
(PDF Document, 387.03 KB)

Average Earnings

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate his Department has made of the average earnings of people aged (a) 16 to 18 and (b) 19 to 24 in each year since 2010.

Mr Rob Wilson: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply. 



ONS Letter to Member - Average Earnings
(PDF Document, 252.56 KB)

Ministers' Private Offices

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many senior civil servants appointed to positions in his private office were previously (a) political appointees in the Cabinet Office and (b) employed by a political party since 2010.

Mr Francis Maude: None

Military Medals Review

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when he intends to publish the findings of his Department's defence medal review.

Mr Francis Maude: The outcome of Sir John Holmes’ independent Military Medals Review was first announced in a Written Ministerial Statement made by the Leader of the House of Lords on 29 July 2014 in the House of Lords. The reports accompanying the Review have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

Charities

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, about how many charities which were the subject of regulatory cases the Charities Commission has not published statements in each quarter of (a) 2011, (b) 2012, (c) 2013 and (d) 2014 to date.

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, about how many charities the Charities Commission has made a public statement when opening an inquiry in each quarter of (a) 2011, (b) 2012, (c) 2013 and (d) 2014 to date.

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, about how many charities on which the Charities Commission has opened an inquiry the Commission has not made a public statement when opening an inquiry in each quarter of each of the last four years.

Mr Rob Wilson: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Charity Commission. I have asked the Commission's chief executive to reply. 



Charity Commission Letter to Member - Charities
(PDF Document, 166.96 KB)

Charities

Kate Green: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, into how many charities the Charity Commission has opened an inquiry in (a) 2010, (b) 2011, (c) 2012, (d) 2013 and (e) 2014 to date; and in how many of those cases the Charity Commission (i) did and (ii) did not make a public statement.

Mr Rob Wilson: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Charity Commission. I have asked the Commission's chief executive to reply. 



Letter from Charity Commission - Charities
(PDF Document, 115.83 KB)

NESTA

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many meetings his special advisers had with NESTA from 2010 to 2012.

Mr Francis Maude: As part of my Department’s transparency programme, details of special adviser meetings with external organisations are published on the Cabinet Office website at:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/special-advisers-transparency-publications#cabinet-office-special-advisers-gifts-hospitality-and-meetings

Big Society Network

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, which Minister in his Department authorised the Society Network Foundation to move the unspent Social Action Fund grant into general funds.

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when he made the decision to recover £33,994 from the Big Society Network.

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, on what the funds not spent in line with the grant agreement which his Department is seeking to recover from the Big Society Network were spent.

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when he made the decision to recover funds from the Big Society Network.

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether Ministers in his Department instructed special advisers to ask NESTA or BIG Lottery to fund the Big Society Network or the Social Network Foundation.

Mr Rob Wilson: Further to the answer the Member for Braintree gave on 5 September 2014 to Question UIN207293,207294,207295,207323,207324 Society Network Foundation’s accounts for 2012-13 were published in Jan 2014 and reviewed by Social Investment Business as part of standard grant monitoring. These accounts showed that funds had been transferred from the Get In grant to cover a deficit in unrestricted funds. Further information and explanation was requested at this time and discussed with Society Network Foundation. As a result, a request for £33,994 to be returned was issued to Society Network Foundation on the 9th of May 2014.

Alcoholic Drinks: North West

Mark Hendrick: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many alcohol related deaths there were in (a) Preston and (b) other local authority areas in Lancashire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester and Cheshire in (i) 2011, (ii) 2012 and (iii) 2013.

Mr Rob Wilson: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply. 



ONS Letter to Member - Alcohol Related Deaths
(PDF Document, 403.36 KB)

Low Birthweight Babies: North West

Mark Hendrick: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many children were born underweight in (a) Preston and (b) other local authority areas in Lancashire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester and Cheshire in (i) 2010, (ii) 2011, (iii) 2012 and (iv) 2013.

Mr Rob Wilson: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply. 



ONS Letter to Member - Children born underweight
(PDF Document, 101.05 KB)

Department for Culture Media and Sport

Families

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the Prime Minister's speech of 15 August 2011 calling for a family test to be applied to all domestic policy, which policies of his Department have been so assessed to date.

Mrs Helen Grant: On 18 August 2014 the Prime Minister announced that the family test was being formalised as part of the impact assessment for all domestic policies. From October 2014, every new domestic policy will be examined for its impact on the family.

Sports: Hearing Impaired

Stephen Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how much lottery funding has been allocated to the Deaflympics programme in each year since 1997.

Mrs Helen Grant: In 2012, Sport England invested £134,620 of National Lottery funding into UK Deaf Sport to support the UK team attend the Deaflympics at Sofia in 2013. No lottery funding has been allocated to Deaflympics by UK Sport. £75,000 of Exchequer funding was provided by UK Sport to support Deaflympics 2005.

Sports: Hearing Impaired

Stephen Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what the total investment was for each podium place won by the GB (a) Olympic Team, (b) Paralympic Team and (c) Deaflympics Team in the most recent games in which each team competed.

Mrs Helen Grant: Team GB won 65 Olympic medals and Paralympics GB won 120 Paralympic medals at London 2012. The investment for that cycle can be found on UK Sport’s website here: http://www.uksport.gov.uk/sport/summer/ Team GB won four Olympic medals and Paralympics GB won six Paralympic medals at Sochi 2014. The investment for that cycle can be found on UK Sport’s website here: http://www.uksport.gov.uk/sport/winter/ In 2012, Sport England invested £134,620 of National Lottery funding into UK Deaf Sport to support the UK team attend the Deaflympics at Sofia in 2013. At the games, the GB team won two silver and three bronze medals.

Sports: Hearing Impaired

Stephen Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to raise the profile of deaf sport.

Mrs Helen Grant: UK Deaf Sport is one of seven national disability sport organisations Sport England is working closely with to get more disabled people playing sport. Sport England has invested £281,974 into UK Deaf Sport to provide disability and impairment expertise to create more opportunities for deaf people to play sport regularly. This is part of Sport England’s £171 million investment into disability sport.

House of Commons Commission

Palace of Westminster

Mr David Winnick: To ask the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross representing the House of Commons Commission, when is it intended that the front exterior of St Stephen's Entrance will be restored to its former state; and if he will make a statement.

John Thurso: The temporary marquee positioned outside St Stephen’s Entrance is housing temporary search lanes while essential work is undertaken on the Cromwell Green Entrance search facilities. This work is scheduled to be completed by 19 October and the Cromwell Green Entrance will then reopen. The temporary marquee will be removed following a short period of commissioning and testing of the new facility before returning the exterior of St Stephen’s Entrance to its previous arrangement. It is anticipated that this period will be minimal.

Clerk of the House

Michael Fabricant: To ask the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross representing the House of Commons Commission, whether Mr Speaker interviewed any (a) internal and (b) external candidates engaged in the selection process for the Clerk of the House and Chief Executive, before their interviews with the selection panel for that post.

John Thurso: Mr Speaker did not interview any internal or external candidates engaged in the selection process for the Clerk of the House and Chief Executive before their interviews with the selection panel.Internal and external applicants selected for interview all took the opportunity for an informal meeting with Mr Speaker.

Clerk of the House

Michael Fabricant: To ask the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross representing the House of Commons Commission, whether House of Commons human resource officers provided advice on the content of the final offer letter sent to Ms Mills for the post of Clerk of the House and Chief Executive.

John Thurso: Following the interview panel a letter was sent to Ms Mills by Mr Speaker informing her that, in accordance with procedures, her name and approved biographical details had been sent to the Prime Minister so that he might present them to Her Majesty The Queen for approval.The letter was not an offer of employment as the Clerk of the House is appointed by the Crown by letters patent, on the recommendation of the Speaker and the Prime Minister. House of Commons human resource staff did not provide advice on the content of this letter.

Clerk of the House

Michael Fabricant: To ask the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross representing the House of Commons Commission, in respect of the selection process for the Clerk of the House and Chief Executive, whether external candidates for the post of Clerk of the House and Chief Executive were offered an informal meeting with the Speaker before they made their application.

John Thurso: No external candidates were offered a meeting with the Speaker before they made their application.

Clerk of the House

Michael Fabricant: To ask the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross representing the House of Commons Commission, whether selection panel members were aware that Mr Speaker was writing to the Prime Minister recommending that Carol Mills be appointed Clerk of the House and Chief Executive before or at the time that Mr Speaker did so.

John Thurso: Yes.

Clerk of the House

Michael Fabricant: To ask the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross representing the House of Commons Commission, pursuant to the Answer of 10 September 2014 to Question 207921, which panel members chose to declare their prior knowledge of external candidates; and to which external candidates such declarations related.

John Thurso: It is not the Commission’s practice to disclose details of the interview process; however, one panel member declared knowledge of two external candidates during the panel’s discussions.

Clerk of the House

Michael Fabricant: To ask the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross representing the House of Commons Commission, what communication the House has received from Mr David Natzler regarding the questionnaire stage of Employment Tribunal proceedings by Mr Natzler in relation to the appointment of the Clerk of the House and Chief Executive.

John Thurso: It is not the Commission’s practice to disclose confidential personal information of this nature.

Department of Health

Health Services: Children

Tracey Crouch: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what additional funding is being allocated to local authorities for their commissioning responsibility for the Healthy Child Programme from October 2015; and what steps his Department is taking to ensure a smooth transition to that commissioning responsibility.

Dr Daniel Poulter: Local government will receive funding for its additional responsibilities in commissioning 0-5 services. The Department is aiming to set out 0-5 funding allocations later in the year. NHS England area teams and local authorities are currently scrutinising the figures for 2015-16, as part of the process for determining the allocations. The key principle behind the transfer of responsibility is to ensure that the Department does not place any additional burdens on local authorities. More information about finance issues relating to the transfer is available from the Local Government Association’s website:   www.local.gov.uk/documents/10180/6410150/Transfer+of+0-5+children's+public+health+commissioning+to+local+authorities+finance+issues/570e8a83-2e91-4cf0-887a-6bcf25674894   At the point at which local authorities take over responsibility for commissioning public health services for children aged 0-5, (including health visiting services), the Government is intending to mandate the delivery of the key child assessment elements of the Health Child Programme. The Department is working collaboratively with its partners locally and nationally on the transfer of commissioning responsibilities and the associated funding issues. It is supported in ensuring a smooth transition by the service specification, “Public Health Functions to be exercised by NHS England” published November 2013, sets out expectations for the commissioning and provision of services and how area teams can work with local authorities ahead of the transfer of commissioning responsibilities in 2015.   At the local level NHS England’s area teams and local authorities are working to develop plans, including timescales, for a smooth and effective transfer of the commissioning role. A programme of regional 0 to 5 years commissioning transfer events, organised in conjunction with the Local Government Association is underway, providing the means for local staff and key stakeholders to further develop their understanding of working together in respect of future arrangements.

Out-Patients: Attendance

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will investigate the best methods to minimise the number of patients who do not arrive for (a) hospital and (b) GP appointments; and what the cost of missed appointments to the NHS was in the last year.

Jane Ellison: We are taking a number of actions to reduce missed appointments in the National Health Service. Nationally, DNA rates have fallen gradually over the past few years. Whilst the precise reasons for the fall are difficult to establish, a number of actions are considered to be contributing factors, such as:   - Local DNA policies – local health communities are responsible for agreeing local access policies, which set out how to deal with DNAs, whether to offer second and/or third appointments, etc. Commissioners can also agree local standards in their contracts with providers. Policies also differ between specialties - in paediatrics it is common for NHS trusts to proactively follow up children who DNA. Similarly, procedures will be in place to support vulnerable adults.   - Over-booking clinics - in the knowledge that on some occasions not all patients will attend. However, when all the patients do attend, these clinics can then be a trial for both patients (long waits to see the doctor or other health professional) and for staff (unplanned longer hours and dealing with tired and/or frustrated patients).   - New technologies - support providers in reminding patients of their forthcoming appointments to reduce missed appointments, for example, the use of text message reminder systems. NHS England announced in March 2014 the roll out of a number of new technologies to tackle the cost of missed outpatient and GP appointments. Recent research with an NHS trust showed that improvements to reminder messages can reduce missed appointments substantially. This research will be published in the autumn in a peer reviewed journal and shared widely across the NHS. Information on the cost of missed appointments is not collected centrally.

Intersex

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many individuals have been diagnosed with disorders of sexual development when they were aged (a) up to two, (b) two to five, (c) five to 11, (d) 11 to 16 and (e) over 16 years in each of the last 10 years.

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many surgical procedures or other medical interventions were carried out in the NHS on people diagnosed with disorders of sexual development aged (a) up to two, (b) two to five, (c) five to 11, (d) 11 to 16 and (e) over 16 years in each of the last 10 years.

Dr Daniel Poulter: The Health and Social Care Information Centre have advised that this information is not available in the format requested as the term “disorders of sexual development” is too broad to identify using the classification system available in the Hospital Episode Statistics database.

Intersex

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what guidance his Department provides to obstetricians, gynaecologists, midwives, paediatricians and other medical professionals on disorders of sexual development.

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what requirement he makes for education on disorders of sexual development as part of initial training and continuous professional development for obstetricians, gynaecologists, midwives, paediatricians and other medical professionals.

Dr Daniel Poulter: Health Education England (HEE) has advised that the content and standard of medical, nursing and midwifery training, including education on disorders of sexual development, is the responsibility of regulatory bodies, the General Medical Council (GMC) and the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC). The GMC and the NMC are independent professional bodies with the function of promoting and co-ordinating high standards of clinical education ensuring that all students and newly qualified doctors, midwives and nurses are equipped with the knowledge, skills and attitudes essential for professional practice.   Medical schools design curricula for undergraduate medical education and Medical Royal Colleges for postgraduate medical education. In the case of general practitioners the training curricula is designed by the Royal College of General Practitioners. In doing so, they must ensure that teaching meets the standards of the GMC in able to retain GMC recognition of their course.   However, HEE will work with stakeholders, such as the NMC, to influence training curricula for all medical and non-medical staff.   In regards to continuing professional development of doctors, nurses and midwives, this is the responsibility of individual practitioners and their employers. Local Education and Training Boards (LETBs) have a role in ensuring employers remain committed to continuing professional development and in developing the overall strategy for workforce skills and development in their areas, including on disorders of sexual development.   NHS England has advised that paediatricians will receive general training on disorders of sexual development, particularly Grid Trainees specialising in paediatric endocrinology. Medical staff who have patients with disorders of sexual development referred to them, will have received specialist training on this condition.

Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what support his Department provides to the Great Western Hospital NHS Trust for the building of a new radiotherapy centre.

Dr Daniel Poulter: We are advised that on 7 May 2014, the NHS Trust Development Authority (TDA) Capital Investment Group approved an outline business case by Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust for the expansion of radiotherapy services at Swindon. The Trust is now developing a full business case, which will need to be aligned with the outcome of NHS England’s review of radiotherapy services nationally.   We are further advised by the NHS TDA that the expected total capital cost of the scheme is £14.7 million and the scheme will be funded through the NHS Trust’s own internally generated capital resources (£11 million), charitable funds (£2.5 million) and Swindon Clinical Commissioning Group contribution (£1.2 million).   We are informed that, to date, the Department’s Independent Trust Financing Facility has not received an application for a capital investment loan from Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust in relation to the new radiotherapy centre in Swindon.

Maternity Services

Tracey Crouch: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent assessment he has made of the quality and extent of postnatal care available during the first six to eight weeks after birth; and if he will make a statement.

Dr Daniel Poulter: We have made improving maternity services, including care during the postnatal period, a key objective in our Mandate to NHS England.   The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) quality standard for postnatal care (QS37, published July 2013) assists NHS England in the commissioning and provision of consistent postnatal care, whilst setting out the core care and support that every woman and their baby should have during the postnatal period.   In December 2013 the Care Quality Commission, the independent regulator of health and adult social care in England, published the results of its latest Maternity Survey, which asked 60,000 women who gave birth in England in February that year about their experiences of maternity care. The survey found that women’s experiences of maternity care had improved overall compared with previous years, but that further progress was needed.   Since October 2013, the Friends and Family Test has been in use in all maternity services. Data is published monthly on the four stages of the maternity pathway, including scores for “postnatal ward” and “postnatal community provision”. By making these ratings public, we are giving patients the power to choose the best place for their care. This test gives a real time snap shot of the service and is helping drive up standards and make sure maternity care is truly focused on what mothers and families want.

Intersex

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what information his Department holds on the number of people who have received physiological or psychological treatment as a result of previous surgical procedures or other medical interventions intended to assign a gender to a person diagnosed with a disorder of sexual development.

Norman Lamb: This information is not collected centrally. The Health and Social Care Information Centre has advised that the Mental Health Minimum Dataset (MHMDS) and Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) Dataset do not currently record if the reason a person is accessing services was due to previous surgical procedures. Similarly, Hospital Episode Statistics data does not contain this information.

Intersex

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make an assessment of whether NHS clinical guidance on gender assignment surgery on infants conforms with Yogyakarta Principles on human rights laws in relation to sexual orientation and gender identity; and what steps he has taken to ensure that such guidance conforms to those principles.

Dr Daniel Poulter: NHS England has advised that it does not commission gender assignment surgery on infants.   Non-surgical services are commissioned for adolescents based on a standard contract which can be found in the NHS Standard Contract for Gender Identity Development Service for Children and Adolescents at:   www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/e13-gender-identity-dev.pdf

Cancer: East Midlands

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of suspected cancer patients received first treatment within 62 days of GP referral at (a) Sherwood Forest Hospitals Trust and (b) Nottingham University Hospitals Trust in each quarter since 2010.

Jane Ellison: The information requested is provided in the attached tables.



Cancer patients treatment- Nottingham
(Word Document, 71.5 KB)

Accident and Emergency Departments: East Midlands

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of patients waited more than four hours at accident and emergency wards at (a) Sherwood Forest Hospitals Trust and (b) Nottingham University Hospitals Trust in (i) each week since 2013 and (ii) each quarter since 2010.

Jane Ellison: The information requested is shown in the attached tables. 



A&E waits- Nottingham
(Excel SpreadSheet, 29.71 KB)

Cancer: East Midlands

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of suspected cancer patients were seen by a consultant within 14 days of GP referral at (a) Sherwood Forest Hospitals Trust and (b) Nottingham University Hospitals Trust in each quarter since 2010.

Jane Ellison: The information requested is provided in the following tables.   Proportion of patients with suspected cancer seen by a consultant within 14 days of general practitioner (GP) referral, in each quarter since 2010 at:   (a) Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust   Financial yearFinancial quarterTotal number of patients with suspected cancer seen by a consultantTotal number of patients with suspected cancer seen by a consultant within 14 daysProportion of patients with suspected cancer seen by a consultant within 14 Days2009-10Q41645152192.5%2010-11Q11759165594.1%2010-11Q21974186094.2%2010-11Q31695158193.3%2010-11Q41703162395.3%2011-12Q11788169995.0%2011-12Q22117197093.1%2011-12Q31893183697.0%2011-12Q42167208796.3%2012-13Q12096201095.9%2012-13Q22065197695.7%2012-13Q32279219396.2%2012-13Q42038194695.5%2013-14Q12176204894.1%2013-14Q22496234093.8%2013-14Q32487237495.5%2013-14Q42504240396.0%2014-15Q12711250392.3% and (b) Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust .   Financial yearFinancial quarterTotal number of patients with suspected cancer seen by a consultantTotal number of patients with suspected cancer seen by a consultant within 14 daysProportion of patients with suspected cancer seen by a consultant within 14 days2009-10Q42824269295.3%2010-11Q12945275993.7%2010-11Q22837263793.0%2010-11Q32544244095.9%2010-11Q42488241597.1%2011-12Q12667251194.2%2011-12Q22492238095.5%2011-12Q32787264694.9%2011-12Q42925276594.5%2012-13Q13002273991.2%2012-13Q23015282893.8%2012-13Q33185304095.4%2012-13Q43115291693.6%2013-14Q13013284294.3%2013-14Q23149298394.7%2013-14Q33391324295.6%2013-14Q43497329994.3%2014-15Q13789343190.6%   Source: National Cancer Waiting Times Monitoring Data Set One of the reasons for breaches of the two week referral cancer target is patient choice. There will always be some patients who wait longer, for example, patients who choose to wait longer for personal or social reasons, where this is clinically appropriate or patients fail to attend appointments they have agreed.

Midwives

Tracey Crouch: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will take steps to ensure that all pregnant women have easy access to a midwife as a first point of professional contact.

Dr Daniel Poulter: All pregnant women can have access to a midwife as their first point of professional contact. The 2013/14 Choice Framework offers women the choice of going directly to a midwifery service or of going to their general practitioner (GP) when they find out they are pregnant. If a woman’s first point of professional contact is their GP she will then be referred to a midwifery service of her choice.   Trusts make information about direct access to maternity services available through a variety of means, for example via posters and leaflets in local pharmacies and GP practices, and by providing email access to midwives.   Encouraging early access to maternity care promotes greater choice for women and ensures women receive the right care at the right time, helping to tackle the negative impact of health inequalities from the start and improve the health and wellbeing of mother and baby.   To help achieve this, the Government is committed to increasing the number of midwives. There are now more than 1,700 full time equivalent midwives than in May 2010 and a record number, in excess of 6,000 in training.

Mental Health Services: Young People

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress has been made on plans to develop a new prevalence survey for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services.

Norman Lamb: The Department has secured funds and is working with the Health and Social Care Information Centre to commission a new survey. The survey is currently being scoped and is expected to be put out to tender later in the year.

Intersex

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what meetings Ministers or officials in his Department have had with individuals or groups representing intersex people about NHS services for and the needs of intersex people.

Norman Lamb: We have no knowledge of any meetings at official or Ministerial level relating to disorders of sex development (DSD) that have taken place with individuals or groups representing people who are affected by DSDs.

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the cost of carpal tunnel syndrome (a) to the NHS and (b) in terms of employee days lost.

Norman Lamb: Information concerning the cost of carpal tunnel syndrome is not held centrally as this service is commissioned by clinical commissioning groups.   Information concerning the cost of carpal tunnel syndrome in terms of employee days lost is not collected.

Gout

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people have been diagnosed with gout in each of the last five years.

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of how many people with gout subsequently develop arthritis in their joints.

Norman Lamb: This information in not available in the format requested.   The Health and Social Care Information Centre has advised that it is not possible to provide information on the number of people with gout who then subsequently develop arthritis in their joints as it not possible to determine this information using the coding system in the Hospital Episode Statistics database.   In the following table, we have provided information concerning the number of finished admission episodes (FAEs)1 with a primary diagnosis2 of gout3 for the years 2008-09 to 2012-134.   YearCount FAEs2008-094,4212009-104,7202010-114,9352011-124,9222012-135,523 Activity in English NHS Hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector   Notes: A finished admission episode (FAE) is the first period of inpatient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. FAEs are counted against the year in which the admission episode finishes. Admissions do not represent the number of inpatients, as a person may have more than one admission within the year.The primary diagnosis is the first of up to 20 (14 from 2002-03 to 2006-07 and 7 prior to 2002-03) diagnosis fields in the Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) data set and provides the main reason why the patient was admitted to hospital.Code used to identify gout was “gout”.HES figures are available from 1989-90 onwards. Changes to the figures over time need to be interpreted in the context of improvements in data quality and coverage (particularly in earlier years), improvements in coverage of independent sector activity (particularly from 2006-07) and changes in NHS practice. For example, changes in activity may be due to changes in the provision of care.   Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health and Social Care Information Centre

Sports: Injuries

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people have suffered sporting injuries that have led to cartilage problems in each of the last five years.

Norman Lamb: This information is not available in the format requested. The Health and Social Care Information Centre has advised that it is not possible to identify sports injuries which have led to cartilage problems in any of the data that they collect.

Stem Cells

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans the NHS has to introduce stem-cell treatment as a substitute for hip and knee replacements.

George Freeman: The National Health Service supports the development of all stem cell research in the hope of adopting effective therapies for the future but will only recommend routine use when it is judged to be effective and safe. A number of NHS and academic units in the United Kingdom are actively involved in research and evaluation of techniques using stem cells to promote cartilage regeneration in hips and knees. Whilst the research is potentially promising, evaluation of the clinical effectiveness, including a National Institute for Health and Care Excellence review into cellular techniques to regenerate cartilage, has not supported the routine use of these type of techniques unless as part of a controlled ongoing scientific trial.

Gout

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the cost to the NHS of drug treatments for gout in each of the last five years.

George Freeman: Data on the costs of a particular condition, for which a medicine is prescribed, is not collected. Information on the cost to the National Health Service of the medicines listed under British National Formulary (BNF) section 10.1.4 - Gout and cytotoxic-induced hyperuricaemia is shown in the table. These medicines include allopurinol, benzbromarone, colchicine, febuxostat, probenecid and sulfinpyrazone. Rasburicase is not included as it is used to treat cytotoxic-induced hyperuricaemia.   The BNF also states that acute attacks of gout are usually treated with non-steroidal anti inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) but, as it is not possible to identify what proportion of the NSAIDs dispensed were used specifically for the treatment of gout, these costs are not included.   YearNet ingredient cost of drugs used in gout in primary and secondary care1£000s20099,850.0201012,449.7201111,703.0201214,445.3201315,900.9 Source: Prescription Cost Analysis and IMS HEALTH: Hospital Pharmacy Audit supplied by the Health and Social Care Information Centre   1 The net ingredient cost does not include costs associated with prescribing, dispensing and related activities, and excludes discounts that may be applied.

NHS: Interpreters

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much the NHS spent on interpreters in England and Wales in the last three years.

Norman Lamb: We do not hold this information centrally. National Health Service organisations have a duty to follow equalities legislation. This includes making sure their communities can understand information about the NHS services and that patients and clinicians can communicate with each other. However, we would encourage the NHS to be efficient and save money where possible by working together and sharing resources.

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people were diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome in each of the last three years.

Norman Lamb: This information in not available in the format requested.   In the following table, we have provided information concerning the number of finished admission episodes (FAEs)1 with a primary diagnosis2 of carpal tunnel syndrome3 for the years 2010-11 to 2012-134.   YearFAEs with primary diagnosis of carpal tunnel syndrome2010-1158,7252011-1254,4452012-1351,619 Activity in English NHS Hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector   Notes: A finished admission episode (FAE) is the first period of inpatient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. FAEs are counted against the year or month in which the admission episode finishes. Admissions do not represent the number of inpatients, as a person may have more than one admission within the period.The primary diagnosis is the first of up to 20 (14 from 2002-03 to 2006-07 and 7 prior to 2002-03) diagnosis fields in the Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) data set and provides the main reason why the patient was admitted to hospital.The Code used to classify carpal tunnel syndrome is “Carpal tunnel syndrome”.HES figures are available from 1989-90 onwards. Changes to the figures over time need to be interpreted in the context of improvements in data quality and coverage (particularly in earlier years), improvements in coverage of independent sector activity (particularly from 2006-07) and changes in NHS practice. For example, changes in activity may be due to changes in the provision of care.The Health and Social Care Information Centre have advised that they are unable to identify new diagnosis of a disease and are only able to report on hospital treatment for a disease or condition.   Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health and Social Care Information Centre

Children: Heart Diseases

Stuart Andrew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the reasons are for the time taken to publish the Veritas report into the Leeds Children Heart Surgery Unit.

Jane Ellison: Publication of the Veritas reports regarding the Leeds Children’s Congenital cardiac surgery unit is a matter for NHS England. A date for publication will be confirmed shortly and interested parties, including hon. and Rt. Hon. Members, will be advised. Once published, copies of the reports will be placed on the NHS England website.

Antenatal Care

Tracey Crouch: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to promote the value of antenatal education to expecting mothers, expecting fathers and newborn babies.

Dr Daniel Poulter: It is important that every woman receives high quality care and information, both during and after pregnancy.   The provision of antenatal education is provided locally to meet the needs of the local community. Some maternity services provide antenatal classes free of charge or at a cost through private organisations, such as the NCT (formerly known as National Childbirth Trust). National Health Service classes are generally organised and run by midwives or health visitors and take place in health centres hospitals or Sure Start Children’s Centres. A woman will need to discuss with her midwife opportunities for antenatal education in her area.   To support providers of antenatal education, ‘Preparation for Birth and Beyond: a resource pack for leaders of community groups and activities’ was launched on 19 October 2011. The pack is aimed at anyone involved in planning or running groups for expectant or new parents, such as midwives, health visitors, children’s centre staff and voluntary organisations. The pack is a practical tool which draws upon the best available evidence and aims to improve outcomes for babies and parents.

Mental Health Services

Steve Rotheram: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to reduce the time taken between a mental health patient being referred for counselling and their first appointment with a specialised mental health counsellor.

Norman Lamb: The 2014/15 NHS Mandate sets a requirement for NHS England to: “put mental health on a par with physical health, and close the health gap between people with mental health problems and the population as a whole. By March 2015, we expect to make measurable progress towards achieving true parity of esteem where everyone who needs it has timely access to evidence-based services”.   NHS England is currently gathering information about access to and waiting times for adult mental health services around the country, and whether any particular groups of people experience longer waits or poorer access than others. Based on this information, we will then set new national standards that focus on improving access to adult mental health services. These will be introduced starting in 2015.

Mental Health Services: Out of Area Treatment

Steve Rotheram: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many mental health patients in England have been sent for out of area treatment more than 30 miles from their trust in each year since May 2010.

Norman Lamb: The Government does not hold this information centrally.

Brain: Tumours

Tracey Crouch: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to secure earlier diagnosis of brain tumours in children; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Ellison: Improving Outcomes: A Strategy for Cancer, published on 12 January 2011, committed over £450 million over the four years up to 2014-15 to achieve earlier diagnosis of cancer, including supporting direct general practitioner (GP) access to key diagnostic tests such as Magnetic Resonance Imaging scans to support the diagnosis of brain cancer. The funding also covers subsequent testing and treatment in secondary care.   To increase awareness of brain tumours amongst GPs the Department funded British Medical Journal Learning to provide an e-learning module for GPs on diagnosing osteosarcoma and brain tumours in children. The module helps GPs to understand the main types of brain tumours in children and young people, and their common presentations, and to recognise when patients need urgent referral.   The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is in the process of updating the Referral Guidelines for Suspected Cancer (2005) to ensure that it reflects latest evidence and can continue to support GPs to identify patients with the symptoms of suspected cancer, including brain tumours, and urgently refer them as appropriate. NICE’s anticipated publication date for the revised guidelines is May 2015.   I have written to all health and wellbeing boards and the Department for Education about awareness-raising materials available for distribution, and Public Health England has written in similar terms to Directors of Public Health.

Sunbeds

Sir Paul Beresford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Skin report on sunbed regulation, published in May 2014; when he plans to announce his Department's response to that report; and whether his Department is preparing secondary legislation to implement the conditions of that report.

Jane Ellison: The Department is carefully assessing the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Skin’s recommendations and we will provide our response by the end of October.

Dementia

Tracey Crouch: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will support the Dementia Friendly Parliament initiative.

Norman Lamb: The Department is supportive of the Dementia Friendly Parliament initiative, which is making an important contribution to our wider work on developing dementia friendly communities, as part of the Prime Minister’s Challenge on Dementia. I am already a Dementia Friend, as are a number of other Ministers in the Department, and we encourage all Members, Peers and parliamentary staff to become Dementia Friends.

Health

Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many permanent director of public health posts there were in England (a) in 2010 and (b) on the latest date for which figures are available.

Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many directors of public health in England were qualified in medicine to MB or BM level in 2010; and how many such directors are so qualified now.

Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many director of public health posts in England were filled with a permanent appointment in 2010; and how many such directors are so filled now.

Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many directors of public health in England were directly line-managed by the chief executive or chief officer of either the former primary care trust or the relevant local authority in 2010; and how many such directors are so line-managed now.

Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many directors of public health in England were qualified members of the Faculty of Public Health Medicine in 2010; and how many such directors are such members now.

Jane Ellison: There were 151 directors of public health (DPH) posts in 2010. At 11 September 2014, there were 131 permanent Director of Public Health posts, including shared arrangements.   As at 11 September 2014, 125 of 131 post holders (including interim post holders) were members of the Faculty of Public Health. The Department does not hold information on how many DPH in England were qualified members of the Faculty of Public Health in relation to 2010. The Department does not collect information on the line management of DPH, although a survey undertaken in November 2013 by the Association of Directors of Public Health showed that 78% of respondents were reporting either to the chief executive of the local authority or to what it termed as a ‘super director’, including other heads of paid service.   Of the 131 DPH (including interim post holders) at 11 September 2014, 64 were licenced medical practitioners registered with the General Medical Council. The Department does not hold information how many directors of public health in England were qualified in medicine to Bachelor/Medicine level in relation to 2010.   In 2010, 127 of 151 DPH posts were filled by permanent appointments. As at 11 September 2014, 107 of 131 posts were filled with permanent appointments. All vacancies were covered by interim appointments.

Hereditary Diseases

Robert Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the Government response to the consultation on draft regulations to permit the use of new treatment techniques to prevent the transmission of a serious mitochondrial disease from mother to child, published in July 2014, whether his Department consulted (a) Dr Andy Greenfield, (b) Professor Peter Braude and (c) Professor Robin Lovell-Badge on the formulation of the statement on page 15 that (i) mitochondrial donation techniques do not alter personal characteristics and traits of the person and (ii) the proposed mitochondrial donation techniques do not constitute genetic modification.

George Freeman: The Government’s position that mitochondrial donation techniques do not alter personal characteristics and traits of the person reflects information within the April 2011 scientific report of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority convened Expert Panel. The Expert Panel membership at that time included Professor Peter Braude and Professor Robin Lovell-Badge.   The working definition of genetic modification in humans, in relation to mitochondrial donation, was determined by the Department in consultation with the Chief Medical Officer for England.

Digestive System: Screening

Mr Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many flexible-sigmoidoscopy tests were commissioned by GPs in (a) 2011-12, (b) 2012-13 and (c) 2013-14.

Jane Ellison: The information is not available in the format requested. The total number of flexible-sigmoidoscopy tests undertaken by National Health Service trusts, foundation trusts and independent sector organisations from 2011-12 to 2013-14 is provided in the following table. This national dataset includes all routes of referral for diagnostic tests including general practitioners (GPs), hospital based and other routes of referral. It does not separately identify where the tests were commissioned.   Table: number of flexible-sigmoidoscopy tests, 2011-12 to 2013-14   YearNumber of tests2011-12217,7672012-13232,6742013-14228,756   Source: NHS England monthly diagnostics waiting times and activity  Notes: The data includes all referral routes (i.e. whether the patient was referred by a GP or by a hospital-based clinician or other route) and also all settings (i.e. outpatient clinic, inpatient ward, x-ray department, primary care one-stop centres etc.)

Children: Abuse

Dr Julian Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what support his Department offers to people who were abused as children.

Norman Lamb: Childhood sexual abuse can have a huge effect on an individual’s mental health and result in conditions like post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, anxiety, eating disorders, self-harm and suicide. Adults who have mental health difficulties as a result of abuse or trauma that they suffered as children should be referred to mental health services, depending on their particular needs.   The Government has invested over £400 million in Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) services. IAPT services provide trauma based Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) as standard and increasingly Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) for the treatment of PTSD that may be present for individuals who have experienced childhood sexual abuse.   Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is approved by National Institute for Health and Care Excellence as a treatment for PTSD and is available routinely through IAPT services based in primary care and funded by the National Health Service.

Endoscopy

Mr Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many endoscopists there were in the NHS in each financial year from 2009-10 to 2013-14.

Dr Daniel Poulter: The information is not held centrally. The annual National Health Service workforce census, published by the Health and Social Care Information Centre, does not separately identify endoscopists working in the NHS.

Endoscopy

Mr Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many endoscopy rooms there were in the NHS in each financial year from 2009-10 to 2013-14.

Dr Daniel Poulter: NHS England has advised that this information is not collected centrally.

Parkinson's Disease

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 3 September 2014, to Question 206600, in which clinical commissioning group each of the 617 incidents between 20 March 2014 and 21 July 2014 took place; and what assessment he has made of (a) patient harm, (b) excess days in hospital and (c) additional costs to the NHS resulting from those incidents.

Dr Daniel Poulter: Incidents reported to the National Reporting and Learning System (NRLS) do not include information about which clinical commissioning group (CCG) commissioned the care where the incident occurred. Only the reporting organisation is included. As such, the information requested linking the incidents to CCGs is not collected or held centrally.   The NRLS receives reports coded by level of harm. Of the 617 incidents reported between 20 March 2014 and 21 July 2014, 506 resulted in no harm, 94 ‘low’ harm, and 17 resulted in ‘moderate’ harm.   The NRLS does not record excess days in hospital or additional costs to the National Health Service arising from reported incidents.

Women and Equalities

Families

Lucy Powell: To ask the Ministers for Women and Equalities, with reference to the Prime Minister's speech of 15 August 2011 calling for a family test applied to all domestic policy, which policies of the Government Equalities Office have been so assessed to date.

Jo Swinson: On 18 August 2014 the Prime Minister announced that the family test was being formalised as part of the impact assessment for all domestic policies. From October 2014, every new domestic policy will be examined for its impact on the family.

Castes: Discrimination

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Ministers for Women and Equalities, when she expects the Government's programme of research into caste discrimination to be completed.

Jo Swinson: The Government has recently commissioned a consortium of TNS, BRMB and NIESR to conduct a feasibility study into how it might be possible to estimate the extent of any caste-based discrimination in Britain. The consortium is due to present its final report to Government in November.

Castes: Discrimination

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Ministers for Women and Equalities, what discussions the Government has had with the Equalities and Human Rights Commission on research into caste discrimination.

Jo Swinson: Since April 2013, the Government has had numerous discussions with the Equality and Human Rights Commission (the EHRC) about research into caste discrimination. Most of these discussions have concerned the work leading up to the EHRC-commissioned research reports – the ‘Socio-legal review’ and the ‘Experts’ Seminar and Stakeholder Workshop’. These reports looked at issues surrounding caste in Britain and were published in February 2014 as part of its Caste in Britain project. Discussion took place about the reports themselves and about the planned follow-up research which the EHRC was initially due to undertake to determine the extent of any caste discrimination in Britain but which it subsequently withdrew from earlier this year.